An 87-year-old Frederick, Maryland, man now faces first- and second-degree murder charges after he confessed to his pastor that he had shot and killed his 63-year-old roommate, and the pastor picked up the phone and called police.
Irwin Dickstein walked into Frederick Christian Fellowship Church on a Sunday morning and told the pastor he had killed Michael Bushnell, the man who shared his home. The pastor did not hesitate. He called Frederick police, and officers arrived to question Dickstein, who told them the body was still inside the residence.
When police entered the home, they found Bushnell dead in the bathroom with multiple gunshot wounds. A Beretta handgun, which authorities believe is the weapon used, turned up in a suitcase that Dickstein had left in the trunk of a car belonging to a witness who had driven him to the church that morning, the New York Post reported, citing charging documents obtained by WJLA.
A neighbor told investigators that several loud bangs rang out from the Dickstein-Bushnell residence around 5:30 a.m. that Sunday. The same neighbor provided a possible motive: the two men had been arguing since Bushnell shut off the power while Dickstein was trying to fix an electrical outlet, charging documents state.
That dispute, over something as mundane as a tripped breaker, apparently escalated to gunfire. Dickstein, rather than calling 911 or fleeing, arranged a ride to his church. He persuaded a witness to drive him there and left the suitcase containing the Beretta in the car's trunk.
Once inside the church, Dickstein confessed to the pastor. The pastor responded by contacting Frederick police. Officers questioned Dickstein, who confirmed the body remained in the home. Police then recovered Bushnell's body and the firearm.
Frederick police charged Dickstein with one count of first-degree murder and one count of second-degree murder, the department confirmed in a news release. He is due in court on October 13 for a competency hearing, a proceeding that will determine whether he is mentally fit to stand trial.
No statement from Dickstein's legal counsel has been made public. The charging documents do not indicate whether he is currently in custody or has been released. The pastor's name has not been disclosed, nor has the identity of the witness who drove Dickstein to the church.
Several details remain unclear. The exact date of the shooting has not been specified beyond "Sunday morning." The nature of the competency concerns prompting the October 13 hearing has not been explained publicly. And it is not known whether the pastor acted under any legal obligation to report the confession or did so voluntarily, Maryland law does not impose a blanket duty on clergy to disclose confessions, though the legal landscape varies by denomination and circumstance.
What is clear is that an elderly man walked into a house of worship, told his pastor he had taken a life, and the pastor chose accountability over silence. Bushnell, 63, was found exactly where Dickstein said he would be, dead in the bathroom of the home they shared, shot multiple times over what a neighbor described as a dispute about an electrical outlet.
When the system works, it starts with someone willing to make the call. This pastor made it.
