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87-Year-Old Charged After Roommate Found Dead in Frederick

A reported confession at a church sent deputies to the home, prompting a court-ordered competency review.

Overview

  • Prosecutors say 87-year-old Irwin Joseph Dickstein led investigators to the Franklin Street home where his 63-year-old roommate, Michael Roy Bushnell, was found dead after a dispute on Sunday, Sept. 20.
  • A pastor at Frederick Christian Fellowship called a sheriff’s deputy after a congregant allegedly confessed to killing someone, and the deputy located Dickstein at the church who gave the address where the body was later found.
  • The driver who took Dickstein to the church told prosecutors that Dickstein admitted to shooting Bushnell and placed a gray suitcase in the vehicle, and investigators later recovered a Beretta handgun in a case after obtaining a search warrant.
  • Dickstein was charged with first- and second-degree murder, ordered held without bond, and a public defender requested a competency evaluation with hearings set for Oct. 13 and a preliminary hearing on Oct. 21.
  • Authorities say there is no ongoing threat to the community and the investigation remains active, with the upcoming competency and preliminary hearings likely to shape how the case proceeds.