So it’s come to this August Busch IV…now you’re waxing philosophical to STLToday’s Deb Peterson? Jesus dude, our number is pretty easy to remember: 314-266-TIPS We’re a great freaking shoulder to cry on! We’ll hit you with the highlights anyway.
Regardless it appears that Busch isn’t dealing with the stress of losing his girlfriend, Adrienne Martin, well, especially after the takeover of his company. A takeover that was, and apparently still is, very difficult to deal with.
The death of Martin, 27, comes in the wake of the sale of Anheuser-Busch, which he led as chief executive, to Belgian brewer InBev — a move that threw him into the depression with which he still struggles.
“I would have given up my life to save the company,” Busch said, “but I couldn’t do anything.”
According to Busch, things were going well in his relationship with Martin. The two were on a date the day before that Busch describes with a little dramatic flair:
On the day before Martin died, Busch said, he took Adrienne Martin “for her first and her last helicopter ride.”
Jesus dude. “Her first and last helicopter ride”? Who talks like that? Who goes on helicopter rides?!
The ride on Dec. 18 was “just for fun because she had never been in a helicopter before. I just bought a helicopter because I’m going to start flying helicopters again.”
Oh. Well if you are going to start flying helicopters again…
The death of his girlfriend seems particularly hard since he admits that this is the first girl he didn’t want to treat like crap.
“She was the only girl I’ve ever been with that I didn’t want to have someone on the side,” Busch said. “You know, I’m this notorious bachelor who always wanted someone on the side, but I didn’t with Adrienne.”
Busch disputes the claim of a 42 minute gap between finding her body and calling 911. He describes the incident as…
“Probably about 11 (a.m.), I got up. Both of us, I thought, were sleeping,” he said. “I went to the kitchen to make her a special shake. I came back and tried to wake her up, and I couldn’t. I checked for a pulse, and then I called Mike (Jung) and he checked, too.”
As we’ve talked about before, Martin’s ex-husband is a medical doctor and has postulated that her death could have been because of a heart condition called “Long QT Syndrome”. Busch’s admission that Martin was taking the sleeping medication Trazodone was a shock to him:
[Dr. Kevin Martin] said that it was Busch who told him Adrienne was taking the Trazodone, and that he “was surprised” because he discovered she had a heart condition — Long QT syndrome — in a test he administered in 2002. The syndrome can potentially cause fast, chaotic heartbeats.
Kevin Martin said when someone has a heart condition, “you can’t take Trazodone.”
Hmm.
Lastly, what of Busch IV’s perma-strained relationship with Busch III?
“Dad and I are talking, which is good,” he said, referring to August Busch III, with whom he has long had strained relations. “I love you, that’s what I told him. I love you from the bottom of my heart.”
When asked what his father’s response had been, Busch said his dad told him, “I love you, too.”
You know, and this is just us spit-balling here, but if we were getting in to yet another batch of horrible PR in the middle of my third, and probably worst, “girlfriend issue,” I wouldn’t want to talk to a straight up beat reporter that’s going to really grill me. I’d go with the local paper’s gossip columnist. Seems like the safer move and a chance to work in “I love you Dad.” quotes.
Just an observation.