Andrew McKeever
GNAT-TV News Project
BENNINGTON — A 31 year-old Sunderland man was arraigned in Bennington Superior Court Thursday, March 9, on a first degree murder charge in the death of Helen Jones, an elderly Arlington resident. The homicide took place shortly after New Year’s Day and left the community stunned and shaken.
Timothy J. Butler was charged both on one count of first degree murder and burglary into an occupied dwelling with a deadly weapon. If convicted on the murder charge, he faces life imprisonment; the burglary charge could lead to 30 years in jail plus a $10,000 fine.
Butler was taken into custody around 3 p.m. Wednesday, March 8, at the Arlington Rec Park and is being held without bail at the Marble Valley Correctional Facility in Rutland.
Butler appeared in court Thursday to hear the charges against him and was returned to custody after the brief court hearing where States Attorney Erica Marthage presented the charges to the presiding judge, William Cohen. Butler was represented in court by attorney Frederick Bragdon.
Butler entered pleas of innocence to both charges.
Butler is accused of entering Jones’ home on Buck Hill Road in Arlington on Jan. 2 and causing her death by multiple stabbing wounds, according to court documents. Jones lived alone and the homicide was not discovered for possibly two days, when one of her daughters asked a neighbor to go over to her house to check on her.
Butler had been employed by Jones to mow her lawn in the past, according to a statement in the court affidavit, and had also been at Jones’ residence a few weeks before the alleged homicide, apparently to inquire if she needed any tree work done.
The court affidavit also stated that an anonymous tip received by the state police on Feb. 26 led them to focus on Butler, who they first interviewed on Jan. 6. State police began intensive surveillance of Butler which included monitoring audio recordings made by an informant who was equipped with a recording device. In one of the recordings Butler allegedly admitted to doing the crime.
A weight of evidence hearing was scheduled to be held in three weeks.
After the arraignment, States Attorney Marthage and Maj. Glenn Hall of the state police held a press conference which described the events leading to Butler’s arrest.
Marthage started the conference off with an expression of sympathy for the family of Helen Jones, several of whom were in attendance at the court.
Maj. Hall of the Major Crimes Unit of the Vermont State Police said the investigation is not yet over. Both he and Marthage noted the investigation had drawn extensively on the resources of the state police, reflecting their feeling that this was a high priority case.
Butler has a prior criminal record which included a felony conviction, Hall said, along with several misdemeanors.
A hazmat raid on a nearby home in East Arlington was part of the initial investigation in the days immediately following Jones’s homicide but ultimately that had nothing to do with her death, Marthage said, who added later in response to another question that the final results of DNA testing are not in yet, Marthage said.
But the main thing was that an arrest had been made, and the anxiety which had gripped the community since the tragedy in early January might begin to ease, she said.
“I think I speak for all of us when Is ay all of us are extremely relieved.” Marthage said. “This was a very difficult case.”
For a video versio, go to: http://gnat-tv.org/news-project-arlington-homicide-suspect-arrested-03-09-
Margot Page Photo
Timothy Butler at his arraignment hearing in Arlington on Thursday.
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