Mark A Pusch and family

The photo accompanying a 1995 article about Mark Pusch and the violence within the family.

The Omaha World-Herald article published on March 24, 1995 on page 2:
Boy May Have Felt Trapped
He Resented Mom's Rules, Friends say

Mark Pusch's few friends in his west Omaha neighborhood said Thursday that he felt trapped in the routine prescribed by his parents, which they said included home schooling and strict religious standards. The friends said they had no idea why Mark would have shot his 45-year-old mother, Beverly Pusch, and critically wounded his 14-year-old sister, Michelle, inside the family's west Omaha home, 115 S. 121st St. Police arrested the 15-year-old boy in connection with the shootings Thursday afternoon.

Two friends, along with many other neighbors, described Mark Pusch as a troubled member of an intensely religious family that kept mostly to itself in the neighborhood. Ryan Witte, 15, said he and Mark had been friends for years, but they had not done much together for about a year. They used to ride bikes and hang out. Ryan said he often heard Mark say he disliked home schooling.

Mrs. Pusch home-schooled Mark, Michelle and the family's 5-year-old son, Matthew, neighbors said. "He hated it; he always said that", Ryan said. Ryan said Mrs. Pusch kept close tabs on Mark, and Mark had indicated a couple of times that he resented it. "You never saw much of the dad - his mother was more strict," he said. She'd yell at him a lot, and he'd have to call home every time he wanted to do something."

Mark had been removed from his home at some point by state foster care authorities, but it was not immediately clear why, officials said Thursday. He was later placed back in the home, they said. Police said the family's pastor at Millard Alliance Church, 14227 U St., had been helping work out some problems with Mark, but they did not detail the problems. The pastor, Larry Nelson, was not available Thursday night for comment. Nelson's wife described Mrs. Pusch as a caring person who was dedicated to God. "Bev was very loving and very hospitable," Barbara Nelson said. "They were very involved in the church." Mrs. Nelson declined to speak further about the family or the problems to which police alluded.

Bob Thune, the senior pastor at Christ Community Church, said the Pusches were active members of his church until they switched to Millar Alliance, a sister congregation, about three years ago. Thune said he remembered the family as "very solid and stable." "They certainly were regular in their attendance," and also involved in Sunday school and Bible study groups, he said.

Jam Eric Pusch, the children's father, is a real estate investor and a leader in the anti-abortion movement in Omaha. He has served as vice chairman of Metro Right to Life, and he received the organization's "Unsung Hero" award last year. He also was active in local Republican political affairs. Last year he called for the state GOP to oust a member of the party's central committee who had signed a fund-raising letter for then-Rep. Peter Hoagland, a Democrat. He was among the Douglas County Republican Party officials who were removed by the State Republican Party's executive committee in 1990. He later was one of the officials who unsuccessfully filed a $12-million claim against the state party.

The Pusch family owned the former Hospe's Mr. Music chain from 1943 until it was sold by Pusch and his brother-in-law, J. Keith Power, to Paul A. Schmitt Co., in 1983. Friends of Mark said he did not speak often about his father. Ryan said the boy mostly seemed to long for interaction with other youths, a behavior Ryan attributed to Mark's "sheltered" lifestyle, which was dictated by his "overprotective" parents. For example, although the Pusch family had a swimming pool in their backyard, Ryan said Mark would ask to go with Ryan to go to the public pool. "I think he probably just wanted to be around people," he said.

Another friend, Jonathan Jones, 15, said: "He always said he thought his parents were really strict, and they wouldn't really let him do much. I think that really rubbed him wrong." Neighbor Linda Kirshenbaum said that about four years ago, her son, who is now 9 years old, and Mark started playing together. She said she discouraged the friendship, partly because of the age difference. "(Mark) was a troubled boy. He was just weird. He was different," she said.

Staff writers C. David Kotok, Angie Brunkow, James Allen Flanery and Kendrick Blackwood contributed to this report.