Julie Bush, Las Vegas sentenced to 12 years minimum jail after ramming her car into her boyfriend, Richard Penardo, killing him, after finding another woman’s tampon at their home.
A Nevada woman who killed her boyfriend after discovering another woman’s tampon was on Tuesday sentenced to at least 12 years jail.
Julie Bush, 31, rammed Richard Penardo, 51, with her car during an argument after finding another woman’s used tampon in the trash can in May of 2024 at their Las Vegas residence.
Bush was sentenced to 12 to 35 years in prison by Clark County District Court Judge Carli Kierny after taking a plea deal on voluntary manslaughter and DUI-with-death charges.
‘I love him very much.’
She will be eligible for parole in 2036.
Prior to her sentencing, Bush addressed the victim’s family, saying she was ‘sorry that he passed away,’ according to 8 News Now.
‘I wish I could change it, but I can’t, and I know there’s not a sentence in the world that’s going to make anybody satisfied,’ she said, while adding, ‘I love him very much.’
On Tuesday, prosecutors said the tampon found in the trash can likely belonged to Penardo’s roommate.
The victim’s family was not willing to forgive Bush, with his mother calling her the ‘biggest mistake’ of his life.
‘Rick wasn’t perfect,’ Grace Fisher, the victim’s mother said. ‘He made plenty of mistakes and poor choices during his life. His biggest mistake was ever getting involved with Julie Bush. She made his life a living hell.’
Leading up to the mans death, Bush confronted her then-boyfriend over the tampon, sparking an argument.
Julie Bush doomed relationship with Las Vegas boyfriend
Penardo then ‘retrieved a long, steel chain from the residence and went over to her vehicle’ where he began to ‘swing the chain around, breaking the windows of Bush’s vehicles,’ documents said.
An incensed Bush then hit Penardo with her car, which lifted him off the ground and throwing him against a brick wall.
Bush got out of the vehicle and tried to help her boyfriend. Both were under the influence at the time. Penardo died a day later according to KLAS.
‘Video footage of the incident clearly shows that Julie was overwrought with emotion and obviously remorseful for her actions,’ Chief Deputy Special Public Defender Lisa Chamlee-Brainard, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
‘Julie has continued to feel remorse while incarcerated at CCDC and takes full accountability for her actions.
‘However, Julie’s longstanding struggles with mental health and substance abuse are a significant factor in the tragic circumstances surrounding this case.’
Chamlee-Brainard said Bush endured a traumatic childhood and began abusing alcohol at the age of nine, ecstasy at the age of 11, and prescription drugs at 13, according to The Review-Journal.
Bush took a plea deal in March.
Penardo also had a criminal history and had previously been sentenced to three to 10 years in prison for unemployment insurance fraud in 2017, according to the Nevada Attorney General’s Office.
Of note, Bush is a mother of a 5 year old child from a previous relationship.
