The Lethal Library

37. The Menace of Marchant: A Tale of Chaos and Tragedy

• The Lethal Library • Episode 37

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In this gripping episode of 'Lethal Library,' Dani and Stephanie dive into the chaotic life of Bruce Marchant - a criminal who just couldn’t stay out of trouble. From arson and armed robbery to shootouts with police, Marchant's life was a train wreck you can't look away from. Tragically, it culminated in the 2016 murder of 18-year-old Boise State University student Sierra Bush. The hosts explore the multiple failures in the justice system, Marchant’s erratic behavior, and the devastating impact on Sierra's family and community, all while sprinkling in their trademark dark humor and wit. A must-listen for true crime fans.

Contact The Lethal Library at TheLethalLibrary@gmail.com. Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok!

Dani:

I fan girl over Halloween. It's your thing. but anyways, I got it. And then she got me the skull thing. We love. Have you, do you have a name for him? The skeleton or the, he needs a better name. I know he's called Scully on the app. Scully's nice. Huh? I'll, I'll think about it. Okay. I can rename him on the app. Let us know if you guys have. Suggestions. That's, anyways, he's sitting in my garage just for no reason. What is he eight feet? Uh, he's just six and a half. Oh. He seems much larger. I know. What would you name a over six foot skeleton. The talks badass. Yeah. Alright, Denny. Let's get into it. What do we got? Mm-hmm. A man whose life was a train wreck of crime, violence, and destruction, Bruce a Marchant. He started in the early eighties by burning down his own mobile home in Nebraska. From there, it was a steady descent armed robbery in Georgia. Shootouts with Idaho deputies, years of prison stints filled with violence, and even a suspicious inmate death that was never prosecuted. The drama already. But the darkest chapter came in 2016 when 18-year-old Boise State freshman Sierra Bush vanished. Her body was later discovered in the mountains near Idaho City. The man responsible. The same Bruce Marchant who had spent decades bouncing between parole boards, prison cells, and police standoffs. This is a story of a man who seemed destined to destroy everything around him and a young woman whose life ended far too soon. Sources used today are articles from My Favorite Bitch, the Idaho Statesman. Love Her, daily News, the Lincoln Star and Coeur d'Alene Press. Okay, already this is full of scandal and ridiculousness, so I am really intrigued already to see what's in store. All right everyone. Welcome back to the Lethal Library. We are a True Crime podcast focusing on cases in the Pacific Northwest and especially Idaho. Danny has clearly another amazing story for us today. I have not heard of this one. Hope that it's new for you too. But we are always open to seeing your thoughts, so reach out and Danny. Let's get into it. Let's go. This is gonna span, we're starting in 1982.

Stephanie:

Oh, wow.

Dani:

So, and it's gonna span till 2016.

Stephanie:

No shit.

Dani:

Yeah. This is, A little ala Robin Row esque, type of a story where, you know, I was trying to, when I was trying to think about the layout of the story, and I'm like, we're just gonna start at the beginning and go to the end because the buildup Yeah, I'm, it sounds like things escalate and it's crazy to think because like with Creech and Robin Rowe, that these were people operating in the same timeframes. Doing all these crazy things. So to put it into context with other cases that we've done is crazy to me. Yeah. You got away with mad shit back in the day. Uh, yeah. Not no more. Come on, Marchant. What you got In January, 1982, Bruce a Marchant 26, was charged with first degree arson in Nebraska. Prosecutors claimed he threw a blanket over a kerosene heater during a fight with his wife. Oh my

Stephanie:

God.

Dani:

arson investigator Michael Hoch said Marchant had thrown a blanket over the heater in the living room. The mobile home valued at$9,000 was a complete loss.

Stephanie:

Those things go up like a box of matches. The older ones.

Dani:

Yeah. Marin's wife, Sandra told detectives. That he forced her and their three children, ages six, three, and one to stay in the home for some time, but March and denied the claim saying he woke the children to get them out safely.

Stephanie:

I don't know about this because I can totally picture a psychopath type man. I trying to family annihilator. And why,

Dani:

why would she make that up? Yeah. he admitted he had set the mobile home on fire trying to kill himself, but quote, chickened out.

Stephanie:

It's a weird way to kill yourself, especially with your family inside, especially, yeah. Mm-hmm. Most people that are truly suffering and wanting to end it don't want anything bad to happen to those around them, to their

Dani:

loved ones.

Stephanie:

This is a very different scenario.

Dani:

In April, Sandra filed for divorce.

Stephanie:

Go girl,

Dani:

get out. Do it lady. Bye. Yes. It's so

Stephanie:

hard to do. There's so many obstacles.

Dani:

Well, and three small children. Oh, but, oh, you're a fucker trying to kill me and my children. Yeah. That's how I would be like, they're my kids Now if he,

Stephanie:

if he didn't really try to do that, I don't see why someone would. Leave so abruptly and be like, absolutely the fuck not. Yeah. If it was truly an accident, no one's gonna be like, get the, I gotta get the hell outta here. Yeah, no, she, this sounds like she was fearful.

Dani:

Marchant was convicted of third degree arson and sentenced to 90 days in jail and five years probation,

Stephanie:

third degree arson. That is incredible.'cause I feel like, oh. Oh, I know that it would be harder to prove or whatever, but that is attempted murder times four. Three kids and your wife. Yeah. And you get, oh my gosh. It's just ridiculous

Dani:

baby sentence. That's what it was.

Stephanie:

That's not even a slap on the wrist. That's a slight breeze across your neck when you didn't want it. Yeah. Like what the fuck?

Dani:

Well, he's a bad dude. Yeah. So, I will let you know how bad of a duty is. Here we go. A year later, in 1983, he was convicted of armed robbery in Georgia and sentenced to 10 years in prison. So I will say this about, I tried to find more information on this one. One place I read. That it was in Texas, that he was convicted. I even went to my pacer account trying to find, any information on, mm-hmm. On federal crimes because he either robbed,'cause he did get convicted of a federal crime. He either robbed a post office or he robbed. A bank.

Stephanie:

Damn.

Dani:

He did something of that nature. And you're gonna see it later on in the story because I was, but I tried to hunt this down, but it

Stephanie:

was for sure a federal crime. It was either of those, or, yeah, because he ends

Dani:

up spending time in federal prison for this conviction. and then he's in and out. It's kind of messy. So I included that because you, you know. Armed robbery is a big deal anyway, but then you're gonna see him jumping in and out from state prison to, federal prison. You're gonna be like, what the hell? So I searched, I tried, I went everywhere. I couldn't find any articles on it. that gave me great detail. I got some of this information from some parole hearings that he had later on in life, so I see.

Stephanie:

But if you know. Shoot us an email. Please comment on our Facebook.

Dani:

We'll give an update.

Stephanie:

We'll give you a shout out if you like, or if you don't wanna shout out, we don't have to do that. But if you know, we'd love to hear.

Dani:

By 1986, Marchant was in a Seattle jail where he met Victor Wright. Both were released on December 1st, 1986.

Stephanie:

Twinning,

Dani:

Marchant had been held on a failure to appear for reckless driving and right for petty theft. Marchant would later say he was a derelict and a drunk living on the streets of Seattle when he became friends with Wright.

Stephanie:

Very transparent, very honest.

Dani:

And listen, you are gonna hear some more stuff in here, but I'm telling you, Wright was like, oh dude, you have a car. let's be friends because mar merchant did have a heart a

Stephanie:

hundred percent.

Dani:

I think that's kind of, I mean, not that march and sitting fucking thing to write home about, but he did have a vehicle,

Stephanie:

a friend with a car. When you have no car and you're a derelict homeless,

Dani:

let's go

Stephanie:

living in luxury baby

Dani:

best buddies, it's a

Stephanie:

vehicle, it's a home. It's your new bestie who you're twinning with on your release date. It's like you're being born together back into the world. What a treat.

Dani:

On December 5th, 1986, Marchant and Wright came to Northern Idaho. Wright wanted to join the white supremacist Aryan Nations movement. Class Act. They were going to meet Reverend Richard Butler, the head of the Aryan Nations church. Did not know they had a church.

Stephanie:

A church quotations heavily. He

Dani:

racist. Son of a bitch. Marchant later said he didn't know that that was rights intention and had not come to Idaho to join the racist group. He was just kind of a long, he's just following his buddy's directions. I

Stephanie:

believe that you guys are. Jailbird Rebirth Twins at this point. And you, that's a little bit of a long drive. It never came up. Not even once. Yeah.

Dani:

Seattle too. Yeah, it's, it's not Spokane. Yeah, it's Seattle,

Stephanie:

not the Spokane.

Dani:

So the pair came over and stopped into the Hayden Inn. And had a few drinks where they met Robert Parks and Randy Corden. What is up with these people just casually hooking up in bars. We did another episode where they're like, they became besties, like, yeah, let's go. Like what?

Stephanie:

And listen. I think most women will understand, like besties for the night and every once in a while, girls in the bathroom, the best. The girls in the bathroom are going to make sure you're not texting your Fs. They're gonna fix your makeup, they're gonna hold your hair while you puke. They're gonna call you an Uber, they're going to sing songs with you. They're gonna do all that. Yes, besties for the night. Maybe every once in a while it turns into like a true bestie. I don't know, I'm a hermit. Maybe some of y'all that are the social butterflies always meet besties in the bathroom. But yes, they, we've had many cases where it's like

Dani:

they went to the bar and drank and then, and then they

Stephanie:

didn't stop talking to each other for like six months. What's, what's that?

Dani:

So they went in with the drinks and met Robert Parks and Randy Cordon, Marchant and Cordon Convinced Parks to go show them the ary nation's location north of Hayden. Corden was just some dude that he met in the bar that afternoon and he is like, Hey, yeah, let's go see where it's at.

Stephanie:

Hey, where's the Klan meeting though? And

Dani:

also mind you just remember, Marchant want nothing to do with the Aryan Nations

Stephanie:

marchant, or no? It was, yeah, Marchant

Dani:

said he didn't, that wasn't his gig. It was Wright's gig.

Stephanie:

Oh, right.

Dani:

Okay. But you know where Wright stayed right in the bar?

Stephanie:

I thought this was your deal, dude.

Dani:

Right? He didn't give a shit. Yeah, he stayed back. Marchant who did not come to Idaho to join the ary nations, met some other dude and the three men got in the car together. But instead of following parts and parks instructions, Marchant drove out to a logging road. How does this even, fuck? I'm just wait stuff. I don't even know how this fucking happens. Drinking, drinking. You're meeting a stranger, going to the ary nations, but then you stop on a logging road and guess what? Drinking. They threatened parks with a 12 gauge shotgun and ordered him to get out of the car.

Stephanie:

What the hell happened?

Dani:

Drinking,

Stephanie:

drugging. I love that TikTok. You guys have to go see Tammy do the judge duty drugging.

Dani:

Oh,

Stephanie:

I love that.

Dani:

But when parks attempted to walk away, Marchant fired shots at him. The fuck? Yeah. He's like, no, no, no, no. We're serious. Parks was told to lie down on his stomach and was robbed of about$250. Marette told him he would kill him if he told the police.

Stephanie:

Ooh.

Dani:

But after the robbery, they brought parks back to the tavern,

Stephanie:

you know. Wow.

Dani:

Where he called the

Stephanie:

police. Chivalry isn't dead at this point. It really isn't dead. They brought him back. They gave him a ride back. How sweet

Dani:

This is where March didn't. Wright hooked back up and they went to a next door business, the Foxy n ooh, Foxy. Where marching got into an argument with the manager Bob Spur. While the men were arguing, Wright went to the car and retrieved the shotgun. Not again. He's just wielding firearms

Stephanie:

brandishing. Oh.

Dani:

when Wright walked back into the business, a couple of women got up to leave and Wright asked if there were any more women who would like to leave. Shivery. My

Stephanie:

gosh, what a gentleman. I know.

Dani:

just about that time to Ney County Sheriff's deputies arrived on the scene because remember the other guy that got robbed? Yeah, he, he got ahold of, he called'em. well, March hit and Wright left the tavern. There's a police car following them.

Stephanie:

Okay, good.

Dani:

This quickly turned into a police chase and they chased the two into a cul-de-sac in a residential area.

Stephanie:

Uh oh.

Dani:

This is like a movie. Okay. Marchant turned his car to face the police done, done, and Wright got outta the car and was like, yo, you got me? So he staggered towards the officers and surrendered ENT refused officer's order to surrender. The police even let Wright go back to the vehicle to try to talk marcha into putting down the gun.

Stephanie:

Talk some sense into your buddy, your prison Twinsie.

Dani:

Who does? Who does that?

Stephanie:

Cops that don't want it. They're like, if you could do it here. Yeah. We'll, we'll wait here if you, we'll

Dani:

let you go. We'll let we

Stephanie:

trust you, man. He doesn't really like us.

Dani:

Next thing you know, Martin and Wright were wrestling on the ground with the gun.

Stephanie:

Wonderful.

Dani:

And Ryan finally escaped and fled back towards the police. He said

Stephanie:

hell to the, no, it's turning into WE out here. He just tried to gimme a pile driver with a shotgun,

Dani:

and the whole time Marin's threatening to shoot his new best Buddy Wright,

Stephanie:

you guys are twins.

Dani:

And that's when Mart got out of the car with a shotgun and fired a shot at the police. You

Stephanie:

can't do that.

Dani:

But during all this chaos with the fighting over the gun and rolling around on the ground, other officers, because of the cul-de-sac, had positioned themselves behind marching, tucked in with some trees.

Stephanie:

Oh, they, they went full swap mode. Yeah,

Dani:

he was, he was, you were surrounded. He was really surrounded.

Stephanie:

Truly surrounded.

Dani:

And when Marchant caught that, he turned around and pointed the shotgun at those officers. And that's when they fired. Oh shit. Marchant was shot three times. When he fell to the ground. A small dog jumped out of the car and began licking his face.

Stephanie:

Is this a Hallmark movie or a cop episode? What

Dani:

the dog doing? What

Stephanie:

now? Upcoming Hallmark movie sponsored by cops. That boys. What you Well, I can just hear it now. Where did the dog come from? I don't know, but the dog was like, dad, uh, I wish he was, are you injured? All this shit. You all right?

Dani:

Well, they got him good'cause they, he was shot three times. Paramedics took march it to the hospital. While in the hospital, this guy Marchant joked quote, can you find enough electricity for this chair referring to his hospital bed? And he was making all kinds of off color comments like that're,

Stephanie:

you're literally, if you're in the hospital instead of jail right now or dead, you're in like a fivestar resort. Like ask for the pain meds and the good hospital food, whatever the best meal on their menu you can find.'cause this ain't gonna last long.

Dani:

He had surgery for gunshot wounds to the chest, face and hand.

Stephanie:

Yeah.'cause they are not shooting to maim if you shoot at them. I can't believe a firearm getting

Dani:

shot three times and you're breathing. Wright was held on two misdemeanor charges. One for displaying a dangerous weapon and the other for resisting arrest. Listen, was it really resisting arrest when they let him go to try to confiscate the gun from his buddy? And I feel like he was cooperating fully at that point.

Stephanie:

No, I think so too. It was marchant,

Dani:

he was driving, it was his car.

Stephanie:

And I've seen a TikTok recently of someone with that had a dash cam that does something and ends up in a high speed chase and there is a friend in this front seat that is like, bro. You're gonna kill us, please. And he's like trying to try to grab the wheel a little bit, but the guy's very calm and basically like, fuck everything. almost like he's on a suicide mission. But the friend is like, please stop bro. and they're going way too fast for him to get out. So I cannot imagine being in that type of situation. And I don't think, if you can't prove that they were encouraging it or whatever, a passenger shouldn't be. Because some of these dudes do it with their wives and stuff. They get in high police, high speed police chases, and their wife is like, please get me the fuck outta here.

Dani:

yeah. I just feel, I mean, he did,

Stephanie:

he tried to help them. That should count for something. It

Dani:

should count for. I mean, it should

Stephanie:

cancel out. Pendo, you, maybe you resisted arrest, we don't know, but then you encouraged arrest. Cancel out.

Dani:

Cancel pendas.

Stephanie:

It's science.

Dani:

Science bitch. A Cordon 29 was charged with armed robbery. Remember his new best buddy? Mm-hmm. His other new best friend. He received that charge while he was already in jail for burglarizing a Hayden business. Twice. He was charged with two counts of second degree burglary and two counts of grand theft for that conduct. So he, from what I gather, he, I think he either stole from his current place of employment or possibly post employment. Yeah, that happens a lot.'cause, it was a, it was the same business, so I'm not quite sure. So they'd already arrested him on that and then they figured out he was the guy that was with Marchant taking the guy. Out taking parks out to the logging road. Yeah. to steal 250 bucks. Stupid. So anyways, so he was already in jail. Not a hard find, lot

Stephanie:

of burgling, burgling all over the place. I love that word.

Dani:

Corden's parents posted a$7,500 bond for his release. Damn,

Stephanie:

that's a lot back then. Yeah, that's a lot now.

Dani:

It's a lot now. he was released on May 13th, 1987. The next day, Cordan died in a car accident when he failed to negotiate a curve on Highway 41 near Rath. The car flipped five times and Cordon was e ejected.

Stephanie:

That's an insane crash. And failed to negotiate a curve. That's a, I'd say that's a euphemism. That means I'm picturing like the same thing that happened at NNU. We've mentioned this several times. Guys look up the article of someone literally not slowing down for a curve, probably going a hundred miles an hour and jumping a house and going in through the roof of another. This is what I'm picturing Yeah. Of failing to negotiate a curb.

Dani:

And there is some background there. I think that he might've had either some drinking or substance issues. Drinking or drugging. Yeah. Oh. and so, you know, just getting outta jail, he might've been like, it's my time to shine. Let's go get this. There. I, I don't know. I didn't find anything else.

Stephanie:

Yeah. Maybe you feel invincible. Listen, I was yelling. Maybe he was angry, pissed. I driven too fast in a car before. Mm-hmm. Myself. I'm I, but just

Dani:

one day. One day.

Stephanie:

One day later, gone. That's crazy.

Dani:

Marant pled guilty to armed robbery and assaulting a police officer.

Stephanie:

Well, you did.

Dani:

In June at age 31, he was sentenced to two 20 year indeterminate sentences to run concurrently. He said he shot at the feet of police officers to intentionally draw fire, hoping they would kill him.

Stephanie:

Suicide by cop,

Dani:

maybe. I don't think so. March. It was released in 1992. I don't even know how this happens. in 1994, he violated parole and went to federal prison. In 1996, and then in 1999 he was back in the Idaho Department of Corrections custody. So that's why I had to include that little part about

Stephanie:

mm-hmm.

Dani:

A post office or he robbed something federal. It was

Stephanie:

very serious.

Dani:

Uh, and then he is flip flopping and violating parole and going here and there. Anyway, I couldn't, I wanted to, I looked. When he committed the Idaho crimes in 1986, federal prosecutors charged him with his parole violations. Therefore, when he was released from prison in 1992, he was sent to a, a federal prison in California.

Stephanie:

Mm.

Dani:

Four years later, the Idaho Parole Board received reports that Marchant had been a disciplinary problem since he arrived at the federal prison. He refused to accept a move from special housing unit to general Pop.

Stephanie:

Mm-hmm.

Dani:

Refused to get up and work, and he refused an order to go to his room during quiet hours, telling an officer that he wanted to be sent to segregate, segregation unit where he could be waited on a diva. Di it down. Marchant was up for parole in February, 1996, but due to all of this behavior, he was not released until April of 1999. He was then returned to custody of the Idaho Department of Correction on parole violations. No, those years are also filled with disciplinary problems. Look, they're like, no, not

Stephanie:

him.

Dani:

Oh my God. So he's just like in and out, like parole viol. Okay. Send him here. Another parole violation. Federal parole violation. Idaho, you're fucked. Oh, he is a disciplinary problem. We see you. Come here. Come here.

Stephanie:

Yeah. Certified menace.

Dani:

Absolutely. In 2000 March and cellmate Joseph Edmund Chastain, age 38, said he had fallen on prison stairs on July 2nd, 2000. He died the next day in a medical prison cell. He had suspicious bruises in his abdominal area that were inconsistent with a fall and an autopsy said he died from abdominal bleeding.

Stephanie:

Oh, shit.

Dani:

Yeah. Chestain had recently been sentenced to 20 years to life for a Canyon County robbery. Marchant admitted to authorities that they had had a fight and he, that he had probably killed them.

Stephanie:

Oh.

Dani:

A disciplinary report indicated that Marchant told a correction officer that he had killed Chastain, but no charges were ever filed. Ada County Sheriff Patrick, or said it appears the prosecutor reviewed the investigation and decided in October of 2001 not to file any criminal charges against Martian.

Stephanie:

That's a shame. It's a

Dani:

fucking, he

Stephanie:

admitted

Dani:

that

Stephanie:

I probably, whatever I did, bro, I killed him. Hello. Open and

Dani:

shut and learn. I also think it's kind of the attitude of the system. I mean, you know, this guy was a convicted robbers. Since we're making up words today, he's fucking

Stephanie:

robbers.

Dani:

Anyways, he had been convicted, whatever, that poor guy, because if you look at Marin's history, I would not put it past him at all.

Stephanie:

And he basically, he said,

Dani:

I, I probably did it

Stephanie:

because I was

Dani:

fighting him. And then that guy being newly to prison was like the

Stephanie:

oldest, the oldest excuse in the book fell down the stairs. Yeah.

Dani:

Oh right,

Stephanie:

okay. But

Dani:

marching's shit continued when he was up for probation in 2003, the board declined to release him early, noting quote, his history is serious and the commission considers him high risk. Shocker, no shit. Yeah. but he was finally released on September 26th, 2008, after completing a sentence oh eight. So five years later. Okay. But I mean, he's been in since 86.

Stephanie:

Right? So, and every time he's out. He is frolicking in crime, just absolutely doing a triple axle on the crime. Yeah. And

Dani:

he, he, he doesn't stop. He has a few good clean gears, maybe, I don't know where he wasn't caught. Mm-hmm. So we're not 2014, he has managed to keep his nose clean for eight years. Impressive. I doubt for him. For him. I doubt it. I I just think this is only luck. I think he was in and out of trouble with parole, but they couldn't

Stephanie:

pin it on him. No. Because he seems like he's gallivanting in. He's

Dani:

manipulative.

Stephanie:

Yeah.

Dani:

in 2014, two roommates of Marchant,

Stephanie:

oh God said

Dani:

he had physically assaulted both of them at an Orchard Street house. And I want you to get an idea of what this house is. It's not quite a halfway house, but it's someplace for people. maybe, down on their luck. Yeah. mental illness, people getting out of, there's assistance. Addiction, right. There's a place where you can go rent a room.

Stephanie:

You gotta learn to share though. And that's very tough for someone like Margie.

Dani:

Well, One of the roommates said he had a nasty disposition.

Stephanie:

Nasty.

Dani:

Ms. Jackson, quote, if he doesn't get his way, he will get violent. We've seen it. Marchant was accused of hitting them in two, in October of 2014. Which resulted in a misdemeanor battery case. According to court records, Marchant did intentionally and unlawfully touch or strike the women, but the charges were later dropped due to a ne negotiated deal. One of the women said, Marchant groped her. And when she said No, walked away, he punched her twice in the back.

Stephanie:

What a fucking loser. I'm so, oh my, I'm so disgusted. she just gimme a second pun punched in the back. What? A toddler response to not getting your I'M horny needs met. Go away you fucking

Dani:

dweeb. Another roommate, Tara Hall, said Marchant slammed him against a wall with no provocation whatsoever.

Stephanie:

We're just slamming. It's w He's literally living the WE life. Yeah. And back then, I think it was WWE F still, but

Dani:

no, he just like, oh, I don't like you. I'm gonna get physical. It's just the people's elbow. He said Marchant often talked about sexual things and was rude to women. Shocker. Wow. Terrell said Marchant was evicted from the house on Orchard Street after the 2014 battery case.

Stephanie:

Thank God for those people having to live with his psychopath ass.

Dani:

In February, 2016. Marchant's psychosocial rehabilitation worker contacted police. She said Marchant was sexually aggressive toward her. The behavioral health worker told police she was just eating lunch at the Maple Grove house. Another house like the Orchard House.

Stephanie:

Mm-hmm.

Dani:

When Marchant threw her food over the couch. And when she went to Bend over to pick it up, he made sexually suggestive and degrading comments to her. Marchant, then grabbed her shirt and tried to reveal her breasts. What? Even though she had repeatedly worn Marant about the inappropriateness and disrespectful of these types of comments, he did not care.

Stephanie:

And listen up. I know as women, we all have a thousand stories. That bear that are in a similar vein to this, but this is, so

Dani:

this was her job? Yes. She's a professional. Exactly. You're not getting cat

Stephanie:

called on the street. Most men are much sneakier about it. Mm-hmm. If they're, you know, that they could explain it away as an accident where this is just absolute toddler behavior. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. And unbelievable. Like, and that's what. Oh, I, I'm just flab. And she

Dani:

is a professional. She understands how to deal with this type of aggressiveness. Mm-hmm. And it's not, yeah.

Stephanie:

And so if it was that shocking to her, yeah. It was. If it was too much

Dani:

for her, it was too much. Like she probably

Stephanie:

had her pa like, you know, you, it was shocking to her. Yeah. Is what it sounds like. And that's saying a lot, dealing with these type of behaviors constantly.

Dani:

Well, he would say things like. Are you wearing a bra and other suggestive comments? But you were an

Stephanie:

11-year-old boy. Yeah.

Dani:

Oh my gosh. Another worker had quit working with Marchant after only three weeks due to his behavior. And these guys are professional and listen up, even

Stephanie:

I can be professional if you're listening to this and you know me in a work setting. No you don't. but you know, we're all professional. this is. Eons beyond what you would expect to encounter.

Dani:

We're gonna get serious.

Stephanie:

Oh God.

Dani:

On September 27th, 2016, Mary Helen Green received a text from her ex-husband, Phil Bush. It said, quote, when you have a chance, gimme a call. I have not seen Sierra since Sunday morning. Sierra Green had last been seen a few days earlier on September 24th, near her family home at Maple Grove and Goddard in Boise.

Stephanie:

Okay.

Dani:

She was supposed to meet up with friends on Sunday evening around five o'clock at the Boise State Albertsons Library to discuss creating an art club for students who were not art majors. Genius. I love that.

Stephanie:

Yeah.

Dani:

The group showed up to the library, but Sierra never came, and they texted her. But they got no response, which was outta character for Sierra Boise. Police began investigating the case as a missing person. Mary and her husband Bart Green, suspected Sierra had been abducted Sierra's car was still parked outside her house. Mary was sick with worry about her only daughter's disappearance.

Stephanie:

And we hear this over and over again and I know there's rules for when people are adults and I don't know how you would, she was pushed putting guidelines. 18. Yes. And I know it's technically an adult, but even people that are 35, 45, like, you know, if you had called and texted me and I had viewed it and not gotten back to you, you know, I can be a little flaky sometimes, but I would never disappear for a week at a time from you.

Dani:

Or two or three days from your parents? Like Yes. Or your partner. Like when, you know, some there, there's people that know, you know, I just wish that there was, and I do see a little bit of attitude changing, but it's like I know that if my partner mm-hmm. Did not come home from work Yes. And did not respond to my text within four or five hours I would be. Panicking because that's not,'cause you

Stephanie:

already tried to, oh, maybe there's this May. Maybe he's stuck on a job. You

Dani:

Right.

Stephanie:

And that's, I wish that there was like a box that police could check of. This is a person that fucking knows. Because I feel like in this, in the cases where it's a very flighty person that goes to Costa Rica because we've had the goes interna, travels internationally without telling people I don't know how to put that into a form or to a, if A plus B equals C. But if there's someone that's like, no, this person would always answer my text if they were on their deathbed.

Dani:

Right?

Stephanie:

So you just know something's fucking wrong. And you know, the first 48 hours, what? I mean, how many re we're not asking for the choppers and the infrared and the this and that. Like can you just start, start it?

Dani:

Can you, can you get the phone company to ping her phone?

Stephanie:

Yeah. Can you get some records saying, can we start somewhere saying she's texting somebody or she's purchasing and she might

Dani:

not wanna talk to me and I don't know why, but That's fine. Just get ahold of her.

Stephanie:

Is she alive? Yeah. So sorry to take that on a sidetrack, but. It's so fr'cause there's so many cases that you like, God, what, what if you know,

Dani:

well, Sierra Bush, she was 18 and was a first year Boise State University student. Oh my God. And she's very smart. She had entered her freshman year with 12 college credits earned in high school. Get it sis, let's go. some of some people knew her as Simon. I think she was, I love that. Gender fluid. one friend Evan Obe, quoted Sierra, he said, quote, if I can be as weird as I am, be as you, as you are. Oh, I love that. she had volunteered, she was also a volunteer at the Idaho Humane Society for a couple of years, primarily working in the cattery.

Stephanie:

What a sweetheart. Yeah.

Dani:

And that just goes back to like she was thinking about creating a club for people who weren't art stu, art majors. And she's like, let's get more people into art, even if they aren't art majors. you know, she was very involved.

Stephanie:

Well, and having that,'cause it can be very siloed in college where like, this is my major, I can't focus on anything else. But that's so, people are so multifaceted in so many talents that. Why not? Even if it's for your own hobbies. Mm-hmm. And I think that that's bred into a lot of people of our generations is you've gotta make money on your hobby. No, you can do your hobby if you're fucking terrible at it and have fun if it brings you joy. If you're a terrible cook and you wanna cook meals that aren't good, if you garden and kill half things, if you paint and it looks like a toddler did it, but you had fun doing it,

Dani:

do it.

Stephanie:

You don't have to turn it into a side hustle, like fuck that shit. So that's, I golf

Dani:

and I pay a lot of money to golf and I suck. So, but I enjoy doing it.

Stephanie:

And that's the

Dani:

point. I mean, that's a simple example

Stephanie:

that, and listen, I pay a lot of money to ride along on a golf cart and spectate as if I am like a professional golf commentator.

Dani:

Love that. That would be a fun TikTok. She lived with her mother and stepfather until about a month after she graduated from high school and then she went to live with her father Phil Bush, in his brand new duplex. Her stepfather Bart Green, a Meridian attorney, said quote, she has never exhibited any signs of mental health problem. She's never to our knowledge engaged in any risky behavior or shown any propensity to run away. She has never shown any signs of suicidal ideation or depression. She has always been a very timid, introverted, very studious individual.

Stephanie:

So an extreme worry. They've, they've crossed off all of stuff. They're like, no, like, she's not on drugs. She's not a suicidal per Yeah.

Dani:

She's not depressed. She's a little bit more quiet, but she's still involved in, in things. I mean,

Stephanie:

and she responds to people.

Dani:

Yeah. On October 23rd, Sierra's Naked Body was found in Boise County, south of Idaho City near Morris Creek. Police did not initially say she was murdered, but called her death suspicious. Mm. Look, I'm a little pissed off with this investigation because they started off with not wanting and there's a little bit more down here. Just call it what it is. Yes. She was abducted, like the parents said. I think she was abducted instead of that. She's a missing person. We can't save like. Because her mother and her stepfather were convinced she was murdered. Yeah. the Boise Police Department worked with the Boise County Sheriff's Office with the Boise City Police taking the lead. Sierra's Autopsy was performed in Ada County and investigators said it would be several weeks before they received any test results. The police conducted nearly 200 interviews while investigating Sierra's. Death now. I guess now that they found her. Yeah, they can say she was abducted and murdered. It just kind of, during the research it just kind of irritated me how they were so stand. Look,

Stephanie:

people need to know and they might, that might cause someone that's like, oh, someone died, like someone was murdered. Not just an accidental death. They might say. I, when I saw her at this point, or when I saw someone else with her, or even,

Dani:

even at the point where they just, she was missing, there was clues that she had been abducted and you're, or a

Stephanie:

business might remember and be like, oh, it's a let me save those camera files. Right.

Dani:

No, it was just, I didn't like how they came out and just said she's a missing person, and that happens a lot. Missing persons. Look, I'm gonna talk about it later, but when you find a substantial amount of blood in somebody's bedroom, they're probably not just a missing person. Yeah. So that's what fucking irritated me. They didn't

Stephanie:

Oh, accidentally cut themselves. And coincidentally, they were planning on running away without telling anyone. how rare would that be?

Dani:

Stop. In early December, authorities issued a warrant for Bruce Allen Marchant for the murder, rape, and kidnapping of Sierra. Oh shit. Marchant was arrested in New York City on December 8th, New York City, big for Big for a Tater guy. Wow. Detectives learned he was in a New York City VA hospital and flew out to arrest him. Marchant had checked himself in four days earlier. Bart Green. Stepdad told Idaho Statesman that he and his wife did not know merchant. He thanked countless law enforcement officers in the investigation, including those in Boise, Wisconsin, and New York, as well as the US Marshal Service and the FBI. Damn. So as much shit as I talked about, I just, the Boise police, I feel like didn't handle this. Correctly from the get go. But also, can I talk a little bit more about Sierra? Yeah. Just really quick. the cute thing, at her that happened. So she was in the cattery. she wore bow ties all the time. So, after she was found, as a memorial to her, they did, kind of a benefit thing out of the Humane society. And a lot of the cats were wearing bow ties.

Stephanie:

Oh my gosh. She

Dani:

had a huge, vigil at, Boise State University too. the whole, the, the community really came together. It was, she was just a sweet person. so I just had to say that, and that's

Stephanie:

one of those things I feel like a lot of people don't realize what big, how large of an impact. That you make on people that, you know, people remember how you make them feel. Yeah.

Dani:

And, and she did because people were, there were so many comments about her and just

Stephanie:

she, and she seems kind of like she, she was probably a more reserved person, not like a big, no social butterfly, but she made a meaning and lasting impact and absolutely. So many people don't realize that and it's easy to get, you know, ev look at the world around us. It's easy to not be happy about shit. Right. Like

Dani:

she was and I, and yeah, she

Stephanie:

was, it sounds like she was full of hope and forging her her way. She was getting shit done. Yeah. 12

Dani:

credits already going into college. A

Stephanie:

fucking shame.

Dani:

All of this and, and also not just doing schoolwork. But also creating clubs and volunteering. So

Stephanie:

caring about her community and people around her and trying to make things better.

Dani:

and if you're a cat girly, you know? Mm-hmm. volunteering and being able to be around cat. I personally am not a cat girly, but there I know cat girlies or cat guys and they're all about their kitty cats. So I was

Stephanie:

very anti catt. I am pro cat now. Not, we don't have a cat right now, but we had a cat that changed our minds and I'm like, you know what? These cats are kind of fucking cool. I

Dani:

maybe could, but Jared's allergic, so I don't even entertain. It's not in the

Stephanie:

cards for you. No,

Dani:

but

Stephanie:

it might be for me and we'll see.

Dani:

And Harry's kinda like a cat.

Stephanie:

He really is

Dani:

so fucking high maintenance. He's fluid. He is. So for him, oh, he is so high maintenance.

Stephanie:

Okay. His pronouns are cat dog.

Dani:

Oh, love it. God. He's such a dick. He is. neighbors from the cul-de-sac where? Sierra's Duplex Sierra's. And her dad's duplex was located, said they remembered Marchant. one neighbor, Justin Griggs, recalled Marchant as being very quiet and he said he kept to himself quote, he definitely wasn't all there. Mm-hmm. I don't know if it was for mental illness or drugs. Another neighbor said that she thought the home was a halfway house talking about where Marchant lived. Okay. She said Marchant was friendly, but wondered if he was disabled or mentally ill. Phil Bush, Sierra's father was known to help people. He meant through Alcoholics Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous. after merchant's arrest, the Boise County Coroner's Office released his determination that Sierra's death was a homicide as far as the manner of death. They said it was a type of asphyxiation, but would not specify details. Mm. So merchants arrested in New York, and of course, he did not waive extradition. He would have a court date in New York in February, 2017. I have a fun fact. Let's hear it. Do you know, in order to be extradited, the act must be considered a crime in both the requesting and requested jurisdictions?

Stephanie:

I didn't know that, but it makes sense because what if you like. Marijuana and the state where you're at is like, we don't think that's bad. Like you want us to, we're not, you want us to put our resources'cause it. There's travel officers. Mm-hmm. And so they're like, why would we be hauling someone off when we don't think it's a crime? That, I never thought about that in detail. Sorry. If y'all heard me just cracking my knuckles. I know. A SMR. Maybe you liked it, let us know.

Dani:

I dunno. I didn't, I mean, I know. I just looked into it a little bit. I wanna dig deep into extradition, which can I just tell you, I cannot spell that word to save my life?'cause I wanna spell it a different way. Every time I wrote that down, I typed it, think off or spell that. It was underline red. Every time can

Stephanie:

I tell, recommend I know how it's spelled. I can't type it out correctly because it doesn't look right the way that it's right. And I will auto correct and right click and spell check every time. Yeah. Recommend why. I, I spell w way more complicated words than that. There's so many more that I, I cannot fucking do recommend and I have to use it a lot.

Dani:

Uh, yeah. You know what I meant? You know what I meant? You should just have autocorrect like they do on your text. Well, come on, Microsoft, get with it. So

Stephanie:

sometimes that's even worse. So who knows what it would've put in there. I don't know.

Dani:

On February 3rd, 2017, Marchant appeared in a New York City courtroom for his extradition hearing. He did not return to Idaho after that hearing because a warrant releasing Marchant to 80 county authorities, which needed to be signed by Governor Andrew Cuomo had not been filed by the court

Stephanie:

fucking Cuomo, as if we needed another reason. As if we needed another that was just for you,

Dani:

sis.

Stephanie:

I'm not gonna forget that.

Dani:

March and sixth court date was set for March, in a hearing on March 24th. Judge Larry East. Stephan Steven is spelt with a pH. Who knows? Larry Stephan P. Good old. It's good old lair. Good old lair. Denied a writ of habeas corpus filed by Marchant, challenging his deten detention. The judge signed the papers ordering merchant's extradition, and asked Idaho to pick him up on April 6th. So in order for this extradition to happen.

Stephanie:

A lot of boxes gotta be checked, is what I'm saying. Yeah. The

Dani:

governors have to both sign this is, which I'm, so they have to do a pinky promise Pretty much. They have to kiss

Stephanie:

it. Yeah.

Dani:

I would just think this would be handled more by like, police author, some, I

Stephanie:

know you gotta get,

Dani:

or an attorney general, something like that. No, we gotta get the big dogs out and apparently the big dogs were too busy to be signing some paperwork.

Stephanie:

They have to do a, like a hand clapping, Yes. Bubble gum. Bubble gum in a dish. How many pieces do you wish they have to do? A whole, all of that. It's in the law books, folks. Look it up.

Dani:

That was, that was fucking great. A tip to police identified marching as a potential suspect soon after Sierra's disappearance. Mm, then came the Kowski crash. A report filed with the Idaho Transportation Department suggested that merchant ran off a curve on US 12 and ended up in an embankment,

Stephanie:

those fucking curbs.

Dani:

an Idaho County sheriff's deputy who responded to the crash found no signs that Marchan tried to break after leaving the road.

Stephanie:

So you were Tokyo drifting.

Dani:

March's Ford was towed and the deputy gave him a ride into town, something. Their eye, they already had his, their eye on him. Mm-hmm. Somehow, some way, that's why, I don't know the tip word was out. but his Ford held crucial evidence in the case, and that's why. To a norm, it would look like a car accident. Yeah. They already had his number. They're

Stephanie:

like, no, we're not letting you go on nothing. Bitch.

Dani:

When detectives spoke with Marchant, he admitted they asked him and he admitted he knew who Sierra was, but he said he had no personal relationship with her. Mm. He also said that she had never been in his vehicle at any time for any reason, and he gave a DNA sample to the police.

Stephanie:

And I feel like Maury right now, I'm just gonna go ahead and spoil it. We've got the DNA results in. Mm-hmm. And they confirmed that was a lie. You are the suspect.

Dani:

Yeah. so somehow Marchin purchased, purchased another vehicle and headed east, and how he purchased another vehicle is that he just applied for loans and loans and loans and loans and loans. They're like,

Stephanie:

can I give you a 75% interest rate? He's like, sure, sure,

Dani:

let's go. he did get a little VA money. He was, as one does retired from the Navy, from Vietnam. So it wasn't a whole lot of money.

Stephanie:

It's, it's a ni, it's enough to keep it going.

Dani:

it's enough to apparently buy a car. It's probably buy or pay here. 33% interest is what he got. Combs car grill. he left town while the Texas were waiting for the test results. Mm-hmm. Sierra's Blood was found in the webbing of a glove that was in the vehicle. Brett Row, DNA from Marchant and Sierra. Oh yeah,

Stephanie:

yeah, yeah. Yep.

Dani:

Marchant drove as far as his gas money would take him, which was well Milwaukee. He spent several weeks at a VA hospital there and then drove to New York.

Stephanie:

That's crazy to me'cause he would think that. They'd have a VA hos, I don't know. I wouldn't wanna be going anywhere where I have to give my real name.

Dani:

Yeah. But the VA's just checking you in. Like,

Stephanie:

I want a see motel where I can say my name's like Joe Namath and no one is. They're like, sure Joe Namath.

Dani:

Oh, well. And what do we do while awaiting trial?

Stephanie:

What?

Dani:

We write a letter to the local newspaper. Oh,

Stephanie:

I thought he was gonna burle something else. Yeah, I I was like, bank robbery. Let's hear it. No, he's like,

Dani:

let me talk about it. let's get the press involved. And a letter to the Idaho statesman. March. Marchant conceded that he would probably be in prison for the rest of his life, but that was not his biggest concern. He wrote to say how difficult it had been to vote in the last presidential election in November of 2016. This poor guy

Stephanie:

recount, recount those fucking votes. He knows

Dani:

around that time he was in the VA in Milwaukee, March and said, quote. There were 30 of us in there and we were not allowed to vote. Nuh, he claimed most all of us would've voted for Democrat. Hillary Clinton Marchant told the paper, I think this needs looking into the Idaho statesman did look into it. they reached out to Ada County's chief election official. Phil McGrain said he couldn't find a record of Marchant being registered to vote in Idaho, got a

Stephanie:

register, bruh,

Dani:

and he wouldn't be eligible to vote in Wisconsin because he wasn't a resident there. But if he had been registered in Idaho, it would've been his responsibility to ask for an absentee ballot. Mm-hmm. Case closed. Check, check.

Stephanie:

He's like, listen up folks. There's a fucking conspiracy. Mm-hmm. I know that some girl might have been murdered, but here's the real issue. The

Dani:

real problem is, let

Stephanie:

me tell you what's wrong with our country. It was just, sir, you are an absolute fucking menace. Thank you to society. And he's like, I'm doing this for our country. Take a nap. Sir. We've heard, we've heard enough.

Dani:

on September 5th. Marchant pled guilty to first degree murder in a plea deal with prosecutors. The rape and kidnapping charges were dropped. That happens in the plea deal. He got the big one. when Marchant was asked by fourth district Judge Jonathan mea, whether he committed first degree murder, he replied, quote, yes, sir, your Honor. The judge asked him why he pled guilty, and Marchant said that if the case went to trial, the court would have no choice but to give him the maximum penalty and quote, I want to plead guilty because that's what happened. Okay. Judge Medina wanted to make sure that Marchant understood the consequences of pleading guilty, especially after Marchant claimed that he would receive a hundred thousand dollars a year while in prison, and that he had invented the Toyota Prius.

Stephanie:

Also, ever heard of a Tesla? I made it. Ever heard of sliced bread? That was me. March ditch motherfucker. I'm, I'm so sorry. I'm so, what else? What else could he, electricity

Dani:

who was flying a kite with a key on it?

Stephanie:

I was,

Dani:

uh, when the judge pressed marching again, which good for the judge, right? Yes. He's like,

Stephanie:

thank you, judge, for being like, when the judge pressed

Dani:

marching again, asking if he understood what was going on in the court hearing, Marchant replied that he was not sleeping well, and that is why he seemed confused. Then Marchant said, quote, I choked Sierra Bush with my hands until she died. Marchant's sentencing hearing was on December 6th. Mary Hillen told the court quote, I miss her smile, her laugh, and talking to her about everything. They were very close, judge. Yeah, judge Mea said quote, in my view, Mr. Marchant is a dangerous person. Mr. Marchant has been dangerous for a long time, thank

Stephanie:

you,

Dani:

and will continue to be dangerous until the day he dies. Marchant was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. So how, how did Marchant know Sierra

Stephanie:

Exact, how did they encounter each other?

Dani:

Marchant had been renting a home from Phil Bush, Sierra's dad, Phil, this is what's so, ugh, Phil, because he was helping, he was into helping people that needed help. Uh, oh my God. Phil evicted him from the property due to misconduct. We all know wish everyone who ever encountered this motherfucker reported neighbor said Phil had gone out of his way to help Marchant and others struggling with mental health and addiction issues. After kicking Marchant out, Phil even agreed to loan him cash, but Marchant never came to get the money. On the morning of September 25th, Marchant showed up at Phil and Sierra's house. Phil was at church. Although authorities didn't know whether Marchant came that hou to the house that day to pick up cash or to get revenge for being evicted, they said that there was evidence that he had previously peeped in Sierra's windows. Marchant broke into the house that morning and raped and killed Sierra. There was a large amount of blood found on various surfaces in her bedroom.

Stephanie:

Absolutely fucking terrible.

Dani:

as of 2025, merchant is 69 years old and in custody at the Idaho Maxim Security Institution. Bruce March's Life was a blueprint for chaos, arson, armed robbery shootouts with deputies. Endless parole violations and a trail of violence that prison walls couldn't contain. In the end, it all led to the murder of Sierra Bush, an 18-year-old, with her whole life ahead of her,

Stephanie:

and I'm so sorry I, I know that this is one case, but I'm so fucking sick of hearing this again and again and again of either someone that's. Dancing on the lines of being jailed or not, and different loopholes and this and that, allow people to act. And, I mean, this was acquaintances and therapists and pe Other people are this guy's out

Dani:

of control. Like, and I feel like even advocating, like, you know, I look at some of these stories that I researched mm-hmm. And the mental illness is a thing. Sure. Like, and I feel. Terrible. if you are mentally ill and have, but it's, if you're not taking your medication and you're a danger to society, there has to be an alternative. Mm-hmm. So that other people do not get

Stephanie:

hurt there. The protections for people that are being harassed and stalked and. let's say if she knew that he was peeking in her window for months or years, or he was even going into their house and they couldn't really prove it. There's so many stalking cases where until you're physically harmed.

Dani:

Mm-hmm.

Stephanie:

Too bad. And also essentially, and the law enforcement doesn't want to say that, but legally that's mm-hmm. That's what they can say. And so for this.

Dani:

And I, mental illness is a real issue, but it should not be excuse.

Stephanie:

And so, no, like, just like you said, it's not an excuse. So,

Dani:

and very sad. I mean, there was, there was some funny incidents in the beginning, yes. With ridiculous choices. but in the end, I mean, and he was an old man. Look at how

Stephanie:

it, look at how it fucking ended up.

Dani:

He was 61 years old and he did this.

Stephanie:

What a fucking loser. I'm sorry.

Dani:

Right.

Stephanie:

Retire, bro. And

Dani:

she, and she was just, she was this tiny little thing and he's, he's a big guy,

Stephanie:

but in making a positive impact, what a fucking shame. Fuck you, bro. Rocked. And he is, is all I have to say.

Dani:

And he is.

Stephanie:

And. Absolutely. Fuck you. Thank you for telling the story and doing that much research because what a shit show. This was, this spanned like a decade and a half, two decades.

Dani:

Uh, let's see, we started in, uh, 82. Yeah, up in 2016. We're,

Stephanie:

we're in the decades, and so this is, I know how much time it takes. So thank you Danny. Thank you guys for just listening and we love your comments and emails and. Feel free. We love to chitty chat. Let's do it. Send us an email. Let us know what you want. We've got some new stuff coming, some more casual stuff of just us. We're good at yaking, aren't we? Danny? Kind of yak. We we can, we can yak for hours. So if that's what you're into of just a, a casual Yap session. We're doing it.

Dani:

And we appreciate you listening. Word of mouth. Huge. Go follow us on our socials. Tell your friends, let us know. If you think of any good TikTok ideas, we'll be happy to listen. Yes, if we love to do these little, I mean, we put out some little snippets of our, uh, episodes, but we love to do a trend. Send it way.

Stephanie:

We're trying to be like the cool kids. Anyway, everyone, thank you for tuning in. I'm Stephanie and I once broke my own nose with my knee

Dani:

and I'm Danny and I hate big generators. Fuck'em. Bye.

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