By LOU CHIBBARO JR, Washington Blade Jul 2, 4:09 PM
Investigators with the Prince George’s County police and fire departments had yet to uncover a motive this week in the June 24 shooting death of a 46-year-old lesbian whose charred body was found in a fire that destroyed her house in a quiet, upscale subdivision in Bowie, Md.
Police said an autopsy revealed that Vilma Artis Butler, who lived in a two-story, single-family house on Jenkins Ridge Road, was murdered in an upper floor bedroom shortly before neighbors called 911 about 4:45 a.m. last Tuesday to report that her house was on fire. Neighbors also reported hearing loud popping noises that sounded like gunfire about an hour before they noticed the fire.
“The cause of death was a gunshot wound,” police said in a June 26 statement.
Firefighters found her badly burned body in a second floor bedroom after they extinguished the fire. Prior to the autopsy finding, authorities speculated that she likely died from burns or smoke inhalation.
Corp. Clinton Copeland, a Prince George’s County police spokesperson, said police homicide investigators have no suspects in the case and are still seeking to determine a motive for the slaying.
Prince George’s fire department spokesperson Mark Brady said fire investigators have classified the fire as “suspicious” but have yet to label it as arson. He said investigators have not disclosed whether they detected a flammable substance that might have been used to start the fire.
Channel 9 News reported that fire department sources disclosed that someone had turned off the emergency sprinkler system at the house before the fire broke out, leading some to speculate that someone intentionally started the fire.
Friends and relatives said Butler’s 17-year-old son, Nick, one of three children from a previous marriage, lived with her in the Bowie house but was out of town visiting a friend at the time of the fire and the discovery of Butler’s body.
Butler was an active member of the Metropolitan Community Church of Washington, which has a mostly gay congregation.
Dozens of Butler’s friends and family members packed the church last Sunday for a memorial service that was not publicly announced.
Butler sang in the MCC choir and performed in the church’s theater group, MCC members said.
“She was a valued member of our theater ministry and she will be greatly missed,” said Shirli Hughes, director of MCC’s music ministry. “I spoke with our staff and I was told that’s all I can say,” Hughes said.
An MCC staff member told the Blade this week that at the request of Butler’s family, the church agreed not to disclose any information about Butler other than that she was a member of the church.
Butler’s friends and family members could not be reached this week for comment. Last week, Butler’s former domestic partner, Vanessa Lee, and her ex-husband, Timothy Butler, told the Washington Post that it was inconceivable to them that anyone would target Butler for murder.
One of Butler’s friends, Rita Sullivan, told the Post she believes a stranger committed the crime and in an apparent random act.
But residents of Collington Station, the upscale subdivision where Butler lived, said serious crimes like murder and home invasions are virtually unknown in that area.
“We’ve had break-ins and burglaries but not that kind of crime,” said Russ Ideo, president of the Citizens Association of South Bowie. “That’s not a high crime area.”
Some of the residents said speculation that Butler was targeted by someone who knew her surfaced after fire department sources told the news media of their discovery that someone had turned off the emergency sprinkler system inside Butler’s house before the fire started.
Lee told the Post that she and Butler, who separated as a couple in 2006, jointly owned the house and had been trying to sell it. A sign displayed on the front lawn at the time of the fire announced that an auction sale of the house was pending.
A real estate listing for the auction states that Butler and Lee had recently lowered the selling price after having taken the house off the market as a conventional home sale and placed it up for auction. The listing does not indicate the house was in foreclosure. Realtors are required under law to disclose if a property on sale is in foreclosure.
Jeff Shelton, owner of Beltway Auctions, said one auction was held about a month ago but was cancelled when the bidding did not reach a minimum reserve price set by the owners. One listing of the property placed the minimum reserve at $389,000.
Police said an autopsy revealed that Vilma Artis Butler, who lived in a two-story, single-family house on Jenkins Ridge Road, was murdered in an upper floor bedroom shortly before neighbors called 911 about 4:45 a.m. last Tuesday to report that her house was on fire. Neighbors also reported hearing loud popping noises that sounded like gunfire about an hour before they noticed the fire.
“The cause of death was a gunshot wound,” police said in a June 26 statement.
Firefighters found her badly burned body in a second floor bedroom after they extinguished the fire. Prior to the autopsy finding, authorities speculated that she likely died from burns or smoke inhalation.
Corp. Clinton Copeland, a Prince George’s County police spokesperson, said police homicide investigators have no suspects in the case and are still seeking to determine a motive for the slaying.
Prince George’s fire department spokesperson Mark Brady said fire investigators have classified the fire as “suspicious” but have yet to label it as arson. He said investigators have not disclosed whether they detected a flammable substance that might have been used to start the fire.
Channel 9 News reported that fire department sources disclosed that someone had turned off the emergency sprinkler system at the house before the fire broke out, leading some to speculate that someone intentionally started the fire.
Friends and relatives said Butler’s 17-year-old son, Nick, one of three children from a previous marriage, lived with her in the Bowie house but was out of town visiting a friend at the time of the fire and the discovery of Butler’s body.
Butler was an active member of the Metropolitan Community Church of Washington, which has a mostly gay congregation.
Dozens of Butler’s friends and family members packed the church last Sunday for a memorial service that was not publicly announced.
Butler sang in the MCC choir and performed in the church’s theater group, MCC members said.
“She was a valued member of our theater ministry and she will be greatly missed,” said Shirli Hughes, director of MCC’s music ministry. “I spoke with our staff and I was told that’s all I can say,” Hughes said.
An MCC staff member told the Blade this week that at the request of Butler’s family, the church agreed not to disclose any information about Butler other than that she was a member of the church.
Butler’s friends and family members could not be reached this week for comment. Last week, Butler’s former domestic partner, Vanessa Lee, and her ex-husband, Timothy Butler, told the Washington Post that it was inconceivable to them that anyone would target Butler for murder.
One of Butler’s friends, Rita Sullivan, told the Post she believes a stranger committed the crime and in an apparent random act.
But residents of Collington Station, the upscale subdivision where Butler lived, said serious crimes like murder and home invasions are virtually unknown in that area.
“We’ve had break-ins and burglaries but not that kind of crime,” said Russ Ideo, president of the Citizens Association of South Bowie. “That’s not a high crime area.”
Some of the residents said speculation that Butler was targeted by someone who knew her surfaced after fire department sources told the news media of their discovery that someone had turned off the emergency sprinkler system inside Butler’s house before the fire started.
Lee told the Post that she and Butler, who separated as a couple in 2006, jointly owned the house and had been trying to sell it. A sign displayed on the front lawn at the time of the fire announced that an auction sale of the house was pending.
A real estate listing for the auction states that Butler and Lee had recently lowered the selling price after having taken the house off the market as a conventional home sale and placed it up for auction. The listing does not indicate the house was in foreclosure. Realtors are required under law to disclose if a property on sale is in foreclosure.
Jeff Shelton, owner of Beltway Auctions, said one auction was held about a month ago but was cancelled when the bidding did not reach a minimum reserve price set by the owners. One listing of the property placed the minimum reserve at $389,000.
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