The case of a murdered woman found in a freezer has ended with a jury's decision to convict her 57 year-old father of her torture and murder, as reported by the Daily News on August 19.
The Orange County Superior court has found Clarence Butterfield guilty of first-degree murder, assault with a deadly weapon, with circumstances of murder with mayhem and murder with torture.
Butterfield's sentencing is scheduled for October 8 and he is expected to face life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Rebekah Butterfield was 21 years old when her father claimed that he had found her dead in their home on Christmas in 2006. He put her body into a freezer instead of alerting police as he presumed that no one would believe that he hadn't killed her. Butterfield also thought that her frozen body could be resurrected in the future.
Prosecutors, however, said that Rebekah was found hog-tied, and shot no less than seven times in the leg, foot, knee and the side of her head in torture, before being stuffed into a freezer to suffocate. Suffocation was the cause of her death.
Senior Deputy District Attorney Ebrahim Baytieh said of the jury's verdict, "They did the right thing. He was a monster. He's still a monster and for the rest of his life he'll never be anywhere else but a prison cell, which is what he deserves."
Catherine Butterfield, his ex-wife, stated, "It's a fair and just verdict for the crime."
"It's not unexpected based on the evidence that was presented. I think he was sort of aware this was the likely outcome." said Lisa Eyanson, Butterfield's public defender, as she was pressing for a second-degree murder conviction.
The prosecution said that Butterfield had killed his daughter inside their shared recreational vehicle. Rebekah had been shot many times, but was still alive when she was put into the freezer to suffocate.
Butterfield's ex-wife had left him in 2004 due to a history of domestic violence aimed at both her and Rebekah.
The defense said that the San Clemente construction worker was a loving father to his daughter. Butterfield, Eyanson contended, tried to revive Rebekah when he discovered her on the floor of their motorhome that Christmas.
Butterfield still lived in the same motorhome in Orange County, until he was pulled over for a traffic violation in Dana Point, in September 2008. Authorities found that he was wanted in Nevada for unrelated charges and he was sent there to serve his time.
The RV was then left abandoned in an alleyway of the business of an acquaintance of Butterfield's. It sat in Capistrano Beach until it was towed away the next month.
It was then that the employees of a San Clemente towing company found the long decomposed body of the young woman. Rebekah was wrapped in plastic and the freezer, long unplugged, was sealed with duct tape.
If you are facing criminal charges, contact a Criminal Defense Attorney to help you with your case.
