Man Guilty Of Killing, Putting Daughter In Freezer
SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) — A California man who acknowledged keeping the body of his daughter in a freezer has been found guilty of torturing and murdering the 21-year-old woman.
Clarence Butterfield, 57, had claimed he found his daughter, Rebekah Butterfield, murdered when he returned to his motor home in Orange County, then put her body in the freezer because he feared people would not believe his story.
Butterfield testified that he found Rebekah dead when he returned home from running errands on the day after Christmas in 2006.
The 57-year-old carpenter faces life in prison without a chance of parole.
Deputy District Attorney Ebrahim Baytieh called Butterfield "Mr. Lies A Lot" and told the jury that in 2003 Butterfield hogtied his ex-wife Catherine and put her in a closet. Another time, he put her in a bathtub, Baytieh said.
In addition, Rebekah suffered a bullet wound in May 2006, the prosecutor said.
"When Catherine was gone, it was Rebekah's turn," Baytieh said. "When I tell you there's a monster at the end of this table, there's a monster at the end of this table."
Deputy Public Defender Lisa Eyanson argued that an autopsy could not determine when Rebekah was shot or if she suffocated in the freezer because her body was badly decomposed when tow company workers found it in October 2008.
Butterfield didn't have a plan involving his daughter, Eyanson argued.
"She was shot or hurt and it was -- oh my gosh, what do I do? That does not show premeditation, it shows panic," the lawyer said. "Placing the body in the freezer -- that's an afterthought."
Eyanson argued that if Catherine Butterfield thought her ex-husband was such a monster, she wouldn't have left Rebekah or her son in his care.
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