Court documents – Rochester murder victim told friends about the attacks

Rochester, MN (KROC-AM News) – A pretrial hearing was held Friday in the Christmas Day murder case in Rochester.

The hearing in Olmsted District Court was likely the last before jury selection begins next month for the trial of 41-year-old Mustafa Rahshad BushThe Rochester man convicted of murder in Rochester 18 years ago faces first- and second-degree murder charges in connection with the shooting of 41-year-old Kimberly Robinson on Christmas Day 2022.

The Olmsted County District Attorney's Office announced it plans to present evidence pointing to repeated domestic violence by Bush. A notice of intent filed in Olmsted County court includes a list of statements from potential witnesses in the trial that relate to communications with the victim before her death.

The court document states that one of the witnesses told investigators that Robinson told her that she had been attacked and “pistol-beaten” by Bush. Another witness described an internal company message in which Robinson said “he tried to kill me” and that the “he” in that message referred to Bush. The court documents list eight witnesses who testified that Robinson told them about physical abuse that Bush allegedly inflicted on her.

According to the indictment in the case, Bush is accused of shooting Robinson two years ago on Christmas Eve or early Christmas Day and then dumping her body in a ditch along a country road northwest of Rochester the day after Christmas.

The indictment states that investigators discovered that Bush lived with the victim in an apartment in southeast Rochester for the two years before her murder. Court documents also state that she was last seen alive in his company on Christmas Eve or in the early morning hours of Christmas Day 2022.

Olmsted County prosecutors also announced they plan to introduce evidence at trial related to Bush's previous murder conviction. According to court records, he was sentenced to just over 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to second-degree murder for his role in the 2006 shooting death of Corey Richardson.