Jacob McCleland contributed reporting from Cape Girardeau.
A Cape Girardeau judge denied a deposition request on Tuesday in the wrongful death hearing of Adrienne Martin, the 27-year-old woman who died of a drug overdose in August Busch IV’s mansion in 2010.
Martin’s mother, Christine Trampler, requested depositions of Busch and three others. But Judge William Syler denied her request because it would further drag out the year-and-a-half old case.
The next step is a hearing in November to determine how to carve up the $1.5 million settlement among Martin’s family members, who say they will use the money to benefit Martin’s young son, Blake. Busch’s attorney Maurice Graham says his client wants to finish the case as soon as possible.
“The judge said that he wondered whether Miss Tramper’s interest was getting some money or getting information," said Graham. "If she’s not interested in getting some money, that makes it easy because Mr. Busch would prefer that Blake receive all of the settlement proceeds.”
Martin’s father, George Eby, dismissed himself from the case after reaching a $200,000 out-of-court settlement with Busch. That money will go into a trust for Blake Martin.
