The Brutal Ballerina Murder

Juli Busken’s Last Night Alive

Juli spent the evening of December 19, 1996, with her friend Ryan James.  The two worked together at the Oklahoma University Golf Course.   After the two got off work that day, Juli came over to Ryan’s grandparents’ house. He and Juli made a trip to Wal-mart to have some of her photos developed. Next, they went back to Ryan’s place at around 7:00 pm to eat dinner.  After dinner, they watched a movie. In addition, the two made plans to have lunch the next day.  Juli Busken stayed there until  10:00 pm, then left to hang out with some of her other friends. 

Juli and her girlfriends played Monopoly and exchanged Christmas gifts. Juli said her goodbyes since she was scheduled to move back home the next day. Her semester at college had just ended. Her roommate Megan was with her. She promised Megan she would give her a ride to Will Rogers Airport the next morning at 5:00 am. 

Juli and Megan decided to pull an all-nighter. They left the friend’s house and drove to a restaurant called the Kettle around 2:00 a.m.  When they were done, Juli and Megan drove to the gas station, got some gas, and a cappuccino. They returned to their apartment a little after 3:00 am.  A while later, the two left the apartment again and headed towards the airport around 4:30 a.m.   It took them 30 minutes to get there.  Juli dropped Megan off and Megan watched Juli drive away from the airport in her red Eagle Summit.

Screams are Heard at Juli’s Apartment Parking Lot

Around 5:30 a.m., at the Dublin West apartments where Juli lived, at least three people heard a woman scream in terror.  Hours later, Ryan showed up at Juli’s apartment for their scheduled lunch date.  Neither Juli nor her car was there.  Find out what happened to Juli by listening to this episode of Crimes & Consequences.