Witnesses, investigators reconstruct painter’s final day

LAKEVILLE — Michael Moore started June 1 like most other workdays.

The 40-year-old painting contractor arrived at a Lakeville jobsite with his crew and began preparing a boathouse on Interlaken Road for painting.

Nothing appeared unusual.

By the end of the day, Moore would be dead, and longtime friend and fellow contractor Cole Bushnell, 41, would be at the center of a murder investigation that has shaken up local residents.

Based on interviews with Moore’s coworkers, a Bushnell employee who says he was shown Moore’s body, and comments from Berkshire District Attorney Timothy Shugrue, a clearer picture has emerged of Moore’s final known hours before his body was discovered at Bushnell’s Ashley Falls property.

A routine morning

Joey St. John, who had known Moore for nearly a decade and planned to work for him this summer, arrived at the Interlaken Road job in Lakeville at around 8:20 a.m. He drove fellow worker Moises Reyes with him from Torrington. Moore and his cousin Paul arrived in Moore’s vehicle from Winsted, St. John said.

“It was a normal day,” St. John said, noting that it was the crew’s first day at the job and they were scraping and sanding surfaces in preparation for priming.

Bushnell arrives

Bushnell arrived at the jobsite sometime between 10 and 10:30 a.m., according to St. John.

Moore and Bushnell had worked together for years and were close friends whose crews frequently collaborated on projects throughout the Northwest Corner.

According to Reyes, Moore hugged Bushnell when he arrived.

The gesture struck him only in hindsight. At the time, nobody thought anything of it.

The two men often left jobsites together to inspect potential work, prepare estimates, collect payments or discuss upcoming projects.

“They did it all the time,” St. John recalled.

Both St. John and Reyes said they saw Moore leave in Bushnell’s truck. Moore left his vehicle behind and told workers they were heading to New Marlborough, Massachusetts, to look at a job.

Reyes expected Moore to return later in the day as he typically did. Instead, it would be the last time he saw him alive.

Coworkers said Moore was a devoted father who routinely picked up his 7-year-old son from daycare after work. His failure to return would later alarm them.

A call to New Marlborough

While Moore and Bushnell were together, Bushnell’s crew was working the first day of a project in New Marlborough.

Among them was Fernando, who didn’t provide his last name and who had worked for Bushnell for roughly 2½ years after previously working for Moore.

Fernando said Bushnell called and texted him around 11:45 a.m., asking him and the rest of the crew to come to his Ashley Falls home. Bushnell told them there was pizza and urged them to hurry because he had somewhere else to be.

“A normal day, priming walls,” Fernando said of the work they had been doing before receiving the message.

The greenhouse

Fernando said they arrived at Bushnell’s property on Polikoff Road at around 12:30 p.m.

The first thing he noticed was a damaged fence. The workers were asked to repair a fence post and began unloading tools.

Then Fernando noticed blood on Bushnell’s face.

“When I see Cole, I see blood on his face,” Fernando said.

“‘What happened? What happened?’” he recalled asking.

At first, Fernando thought Bushnell had been involved in an accident.

Soon after, Fernando said Bushnell allegedly told him, “‘I’ve got a problem. Let me show you something.’”

Bushnell led him to a small greenhouse behind the house and the door was closed behind him.

According to Fernando, Bushnell lifted a mattress inside the greenhouse, revealing what Fernando described as a body wrapped in a tarp.

Fernando said he asked who it was.

According to Fernando, Bushnell allegedly responded: “It’s Mike.”

“I said, ‘What?’” Fernando recalled.

“It’s Mike,” Bushnell repeated, according to Fernando.

“I said, ‘What happened? What are you doing?’”

Bushnell reportedly replied: “‘This is not your problem, it’s my problem.’”

Fernando said he was shaken and wanted to leave immediately. He said the other workers never saw Moore’s body.

Fernando and the crew then left the property.

Fernando said he had no idea what had occurred before his arrival. However, Bushnell and Moore never arrived in New Marlborough.

Fernando then got into his van with his workers and drove to Troop B in North Canaan, less than two miles from Bushnell’s home. They arrived at Troop B before 1:30 p.m.

According to authorities, Bushnell followed Fernando and his colleagues in his vehicle but stopped after they pulled over on the side of the road. Once he drove away, they continued to the state police barracks.

District Attorney Shugrue later confirmed much of the timeline, including that a worker had been shown Moore’s body under a mattress in a greenhouse after arriving at the property.

Acting strange

According to reports, Bushnell’s fiancée said he appeared normal Monday morning. By noon, however, he seemed agitated.

She also told authorities, according to court records, that she received a text message from him telling her not to come home. Furthermore, she told police that Bushnell had been acting strangely and appeared paranoid in the days leading up to June 1.

Waiting for Mike

Back in Lakeville, workers grew concerned when Moore failed to return.

St. John said he called Moore twice around 2:30 p.m. to tell him he had to leave for a dentist appointment but received no response.

By about 4 p.m., Reyes said repeated attempts to reach Moore had also failed.

Reyes said he then called Bushnell directly.

“‘Where’s Mike?’” Reyes recalled asking.

According to Reyes, Bushnell responded, “‘I don’t f----ing know,’” before ending the conversation.

For the workers, the answer made little sense. Moore had left the jobsite with Bushnell that morning. They grew worried when he never made it back.

Police become involved

Connecticut troopers notified the Sheffield Police Dept., who responded to the Polikoff Road property and secured the scene before contacting the Berkshire District Attorney’s Office.

District Attorney Shugrue said that Moore was fatally assaulted inside the greenhouse and his body was then placed under the mattress.

At Bushnell’s arraignment, prosecutors said Moore suffered blunt-force trauma to the head and lacerations to his back, likely caused by a small knife.

However, Shugrue said last week that there were additional injuries, including wounds to his legs. “Lower legs and other parts of the body. He was struck and stabbed multiple times.”

Shugrue also said that investigators have recovered what they believe were the weapons used in the attack.

“There have been weapons recovered, but I’m not going to comment more on that, other than that they’re being forensically tested, and there’s significant amounts of material on those weapons.”

Bushnell was arrested June 1 and charged with murder. He was arraigned June 2. He has pleaded not guilty and remains held without bail.

Bushnell was not home when police first arrived.

Investigators arrested him when he returned to the property at 5:23 p.m. after being told there was a fire there, though no fire had occurred. Authorities believe confusion among nearby residents who saw emergency vehicles at the scene may have led to reports of a fire, prompting Bushnell’s return.

Court records state that when Bushnell returned, he was wearing clothing stained with a reddish-brown substance consistent with blood. He was taken into custody without incident.

According to court records, Bushnell had asked his fiancée the Friday before Moore’s death for access to the surveillance cameras at his home. The cameras had been in place for some time, and she told investigators he had never asked before.

On June 1, she noticed the cameras had been turned off and were facing different directions.

Questions remain

Although investigators have outlined portions of the case in court, many questions remain unanswered.

Authorities have not publicly disclosed the full sequence of events between the time Moore left the Lakeville jobsite and the time Fernando arrived at Bushnell’s Ashley Falls home.

Shugrue has said investigators continue to gather evidence and await additional forensic results. However, investigators have noted that Moore and Bushnell went to the Ashley Falls property alone.

Investigators believe the dispute centered on money from a job that Moore and Bushnell were working on together. Shugrue said Moore was expecting to receive a $10,000 payment on June 1 related to the job, but Bushnell collected the money on May 31.

According to investigators, Bushnell believed Moore had been stealing from him and decided to get the payment. Shugrue said he believes Moore was unaware Bushnell had collected the money until the day of his death.

Investigators found no evidence that Moore had stolen from Bushnell.

“He thought Mr. Moore was stealing from him,” Shugrue said. “That did not appear to be the case.”

What’s next

Bushnell remains held without bail and is scheduled to return to Southern Berkshire District Court on July 16.

Prosecutors plan to present the case to a Berkshire County grand jury. If an indictment is issued, the case will move to Berkshire Superior Court in Pittsfield for a trial.

Shugrue said the case was particularly tragic because Moore and Bushnell had been friends since high school and were both fathers.

“A poor man has lost his life, and he’s got a young child, and a man who had a child as well is incarcerated, so it’s a very sad situation.”