Jan. 3—ROCHESTER — The man found guilty of murdering a woman in December 2022 was sentenced to life in prison without parole on Friday, Jan. 3, in a packed Olmsted County courtroom.
Mustafa Rahsad Bush was charged with premeditated first-degree murder with intent, first-degree murder with a pattern of domestic abuse and an additional charge of second-degree murder with intent in connection to the death of Kimberly Ann Robinson. Robinson was found Dec. 26, 2022, in a ditch in Cascade Township after a person walking their dog near River Bluffs Lane Northwest and West River Road found her body after their dog started pulling on its leash.
A jury found him guilty on two counts, first-degree murder with a past pattern of domestic abuse and second-degree murder with intent, in November 2024.
“Justice doesn’t bring closure,” Olmsted County Attorney Mark Ostrem said during the hearing.
One victim impact statement from Robinson’s mother was shared by Kathy Wallace, Olmsted County district judge and Robinson’s sister-in-law.
“My purpose in giving this victim impact statement is so that our family can find some peace,” Wallace read.
According to the statement, Robinson’s mother adopted Robinson’s youngest son after she was killed. He should have been enjoying winter break and his childhood, the statement said.
“You, Mr. Bush, didn’t have a right to steal that hope, … but you did,” Wallace read.
In his final remarks, Ostrem said there will be no celebration at the conclusion of the sentencing, “only relief” that Bush will not be able to hurt anyone again. He requested life in prison without parole.
Ostrem also asked that the court take judicial notice of Bush’s previous conviction in 2006 in the murder of Cory Richardson at Richardson’s northwest Rochester home. He was freed in 2020.
Bush’s attorney, Graham Henry, said while the sentencing decision is fixed by Minnesota state law, Bush “is more than the worst thing he ever did.”
Although Bush has several encounters with the criminal justice system, Henry said, he is still capable of kindness and generosity.
Bush thanked “everyone who came to show their support.”
“I’m so, so sorry to my parents,” Bush said. He implied that he will be appealing the conviction.
District Judge Douglas Bayley said this case has had “an unusually large impact” on the community, but he hopes those involved can find some closure, including Bush, Robinson’s family and his colleague, Wallace.
Bayley said the incident was a “terrible waste of lives.”
“Mr. Bush will lose his freedom, his liberty for the rest of his life,” Bayley said.
“The sentence imposed today is appropriately lengthy and just. … I readily sign off on it,” he said before sentencing Bush to life in prison.
After the hearing, Robinson’s friend Angie Conlin said it’s time that the family can begin to heal.
“The sun is shining, and I think she knows exactly what happened today and what was going to happen,” Conlin said.
According to the criminal complaint, a nude Robinson was found laying on her back about 7 to 10 yards into the roadway ditch. Officers determined that she was dragged there feet first based on a continuous drag mark pattern visible in the snow. Police found a walking pattern from where her body was placed back to the roadway.
An autopsy showed she was shot through her neck from left to right, which appears to have caused her death. Robinson also had a contusion on her forehead that appeared to go to the bone of her skull.
Law enforcement worked through blizzard-like conditions while processing the crime scene.
When her body was found, blood appeared to have been spread along the shoulder by a snowplow.
Witnesses told law enforcement that Robinson and Bush were dating and the pair had recently gotten into an argument. The couple lived together in a southeast Rochester home but Robinson told a witness on Dec. 24 that she was staying with a friend at the time, the complaint said.
Cell phone data from both Robinson and Bush show them following a similar path throughout Dec. 24 and Dec. 25. Witnesses also put Robinson and Bush together after Robinson left a family Christmas Eve party and the early morning on Dec. 25.
The complaint said blood evidence was found in several locations in Bush’s vehicle, including in the front passenger area, the driver’s seat belt and areas of pooling blood in the passenger compartment, though forensic testing has not been completed on the samples to determine the source.
Bush disposed of several items in a burn pit at a southeast Rochester home, a witness told law enforcement. An investigator with the Olmsted County Sheriff’s Office observed several burnt clothing items and glasses frames in the pit from a recent fire, according to the criminal complaint.
Bush cleaned out his vehicle in the garage of a friend Dec. 26, a witness told an investigator. Bush was observed by witnesses and law enforcement moving different items from his vehicle to other places for several days following the death of Robinson, the complaint said.
Bush came to the Olmsted County Law Enforcement Center with a family member following the transfer of items from his vehicle. Several items were found that belonged to Robinson in the vehicle he arrived in, which was not his vehicle. A bag in the vehicle contained several of Bush’s items and about a half pound of cocaine, the complaint alleged.
On Friday, the defense for Bush filed a motion to dismiss the first-degree premeditated murder charge. According to the motion, there is “not sufficient evidence for a reasonable jury to find Mr. Bush guilty of acting with premeditation in the death of Kimberly Ann Robinson.”
On Oct. 3, 2024, Bush filed a preliminary application in the 2006 case for post-conviction relief, which could grant Bush a new trial, correct the sentence or provide him with appropriate disposition, according to Minnesota statutes.
An order from Chief Judge Joseph Bueltel granting Bush’s preliminary application said Bush claims that “he qualifies for relief because he did not cause the death of a human being, he claims he was not a major participant in the felony underlying the crime for which he was convicted, and he claims he did not act with extreme indifference to human life.”