GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Two people are facing arson and drug charges in federal court in what prosecutors describe as an attempt to cover up an overdose.
Prosecutors say Damiane Buehrer gave the synthetic opioid carfentanil to a man in Hillsdale County on January 11, 2017. When the man, named only as "T.H." in court documents, died from an overdose prosecutors say Buehrer and Kristy Bumpus moved T.H.'s body, car and personal effects from their home on Addison Road in North Adams to a spot on Voorheis Road in Hillsdale County where they doused the car in gasoline and set it on fire.
Buehrer has a previous felony drug conviction, which means he could be sentenced to life in prison if convicted of distributing the carfentanil that killed T.H. He could also get between 5 and 40 years on four other drug charges because of his record. Both Buehrer and Bumpus face 10 years in prison if convicted of the arson charges.
Buehrer is already serving 46 months in federal prison after being pleading guilty in a Lansing dogfighting investigation in 2018.
The suspects are charged with the following crimes:
Damiane Buhrer
- Distribution of a Controlled Substance Causing Death
- Aiding, Abetting, and Inducing Use of Arson to Commit Felony
- Conspiracy to Commit Arson
- Possession of a Controlled Substance with Intent to Distribute
- Distribution of a Controlled Substance (2 counts)
Kristy Bumpus
- Accessory After the Fact - Distribution of Controlled Substance Causing Death
- Use of Arson to Commit Felony
- Conspiracy to Commit Arson
News 10 and wilx.com will continue to keep you updated on the arson investigation.
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