Police charge man for hiding body in storgage unit
Anne Warfield
find the defendent's story doubtful.
From the Peoria [IL] Journal Star--
Police charge man for hiding body
Boyfriend says they 'tussled' because she wanted to kill self
September 21, 2002
By ANDY KRAVETZ
of the Journal Star
PEORIA - Bradford McNabb put his girlfriend's 5-year-old son on the
school bus Monday, then set about the grisly chore of trying to find a
place to hide her body, authorities said Friday.
McNabb, 26, of 3828 N. Sterling Ave., Apt. A, drove to Bloomington
that day where he tried twice - the first time unsuccessfully - to
purchase a storage unit under a false name. Once he secured a storage
unit, McNabb took the body of Canosha Butler out of his car and stored
it inside, Peoria County State's Attorney Kevin Lyons said.
"He then returned to (his apartment) and resumed living his life as
though nothing happened," Lyons said during a bond hearing Friday for
McNabb, who stands charged with obstructing justice in connection with
Butler's death.
No one knew anything was wrong until Butler's son wasn't picked up
from school. Butler's mother, who now has custody of the child, first
questioned McNabb and then went to police, who questioned him Tuesday,
Lyons said.
The felony charge stems from statements McNabb gave to police when
they first questioned him about Butler's disappearance. At that time,
McNabb said, "He didn't know nothing about nothing," according to
Lyons.
"That was a lie, and we know that," Lyons said.
Butler "was very smart, very sweet," said her aunt, Olivia Butler.
"She was just as sweet as she could be, just like a little girl."
For three days, no one knew what happened to Butler, a family
development case worker for Head Start.
It wasn't like her to not call and let people at work know why she
wasn't there, said her cousin and coworker, Tamara Butler.
That changed Thursday when McNabb told officers where he had left her
body.
Asked why McNabb put the body into the locker, Lyons said, "It varied
from panic to fear to not knowing what to do. I find that
preposterous."
However, Lyons said without a cause of death and something to link
McNabb to the crime, he won't charge the Peoria man with murder.
"There's not a statute of limitations on murder," he said. "We know
that he lied, but getting from point A to point Z is peculiar because
the person who knows the most is dead."
McNabb's statement to police was that he had hidden Butler in the
Bloomington storage unit after the two had a "tussle" over her desire
to kill herself.
"He stated that they had argued over her wish to ingest prescription
drugs or dangerous substances and that he was seeking to prevent
this," Lyons said.
Tamara Butler flatly rejects McNabb's story.
"I don't believe that she was suicidal. It's not her personality, it
doesn't fit her demeanor at all," she said Friday. "With her
(commitment) to her family and her job, no. There's no indication that
she was remotely going through anything that would cause her to think
about taking her life."
She described her cousin as a "peacemaker, a counselor, an excellent
mother, very professional . . . and beautiful. She had big brown,
hazel, puppy dog eyes."
Authorities searched the couple's apartment and found blood on
Butler's bed and in the hallway. Lyons, however, said it was unclear
how long the blood had been there or whose blood it was.
The cause of death remains unclear. Preliminary autopsy results on
Friday showed no outward sign of death, McLean County Coroner Beth C.
Kimmerling said. "There was just nothing obvious from the autopsy."
Based on the state of decomposition of Butler's body and the last time
she was seen alive, authorities estimate she was dead for about three
days.
Lyons said in court that Butler had a small, knifelike mark on her
neck and a bite mark on her hand. Neither, he said, appeared to be the
cause of death.
Officials are awaiting results from toxicology tests, which are
expected in two weeks.
Obstructing justice is normally punishable by one to three years in
prison, but because McNabb had been convicted of a higher class
penalty recently, he could go to prison for three to six years if
convicted.
Bond for McNabb was set at $100,000, meaning he would have to post 10
percent, or $10,000, to get out of the Peoria County Jail.
Lyons also told Associate Judge Kevin R. Galley his office would be
filing a petition to revoke McNabb's probation. The four-year term was
imposed last year after he pleaded guilty to aggravated discharge of a
firearm for shooting a security guard at a South Peoria bar.
McNabb shot Robert Wilson, who was working as a security guard at the
Equator, 1412 SW Jefferson Ave., about 1 a.m. on Jan. 14, 2001, after
Wilson attempted to end a dispute between a few men. Initially, McNabb
was going to get five years in prison, but the guard pleaded for mercy
and convinced the sentencing judge to give him probation.
If his probation is revoked, McNabb could face an additional four to
15 years in prison.
Within the past month, McNabb had been arrested for domestic battery
after he allegedly punched and beat Butler, who did not have an order
of protection against him. That case is pending in Peoria County
Circuit Court, Lyons said.
Olivia Butler said her niece didn't deserve to die the way she did.
"My father always said you can be around a person for 50 years and
never really know them or what they're capable of. But justice will
prevail," she said.
Reporters Angela Green and Dave Haney contributed to this story.
http://pjstar.com/news/topnews/g123423a.html
--
Anne Warfield
indigoace at goodsol period com
http://www.goodsol.com/cats/