Authorities arrest man for double homicide, his own wife among those murdered

A Wasilla man was arrested on Tuesday, around noon, for a crime prosecutors say he committed in 2015.

Bruce Floyd Dowd Butler, 42, was arrested by officers with the Alaska Bureau of Investigation at his home in Wasilla "without incident", according to Alaska State Troopers.

Bruce Butler is accused of murdering both Lynn Butler and Richard Casler on July 2, 2015, at Valdez Creek Mine Road near Cantwell.

According to charging documents, Bruce Butler and Lynn Butler were married, but were in the process of getting a divorce. Lynn Butler filed for both a divorce and restraining order against her husband, at the beginning of 2015. Moreover, the documents reveal that a "variety of witnesses" reported that Bruce Butler physically injured Lynn Butler, over the course of a decade. Many of these violent incidents went unreported to law enforcement.

On July 2, 2015, around 9 a.m., Lynn Butler and Richard Casler were expected to meet up with friends, Thomas Wisdom and Charles Hight, to ride ATV's together. After Lynn Butler and Casler failed to show up, Wisdom and Hight went to check up on their campsite. Upon seeing Casler's truck missing, the two men thought their friends left without them, so they carried on about their day.

At 2 p.m., Wisdom and Hight located Casler's blue Ford F-150 abandoned, unlocked and with keys inside. For the rest of the afternoon, they would periodically check on the car. By 9 p.m., the two men returned to the campsite of Lynn Butler and Casler, and upon further inspection they noticed "blood and brains on the ground," according to charging documents.

The Medical Examiner's Office determined that Lynn Butler died from "multiple gunshot wounds," while Casler died from "multiple blunt force injuries/gunshot wounds," according to the document. Both deaths were ruled as homicides.

Law enforcement contacted Bruce Butler several times; however, he insisted he "had nothing to do with Lynn's or Richard's deaths." Meanwhile, charging documents say that Bruce Butler also "shared details about the investigation with many people in his social network." Often times, prosecutors say his emerging statements were "conflicting."

Investigators learned that during the process of divorce, prior to the double homicide, Bruce Butler was primarily staying in a motor vessel named "Sundowner." Oftentimes, it was seen at the property of Matthew Nelson, on the 3400-block of Black Knight Drive, Houston, Alaska.

On February 29, 2016, Nelson was originally brought into questioning on behalf of unrelated assault and coercion charges; however, Nelson told law enforcement that Bruce Butler admitted to him that his car was borrowed to commit the crime, unknowingly.

According to the charging documents, Bruce Butler initially told Nelson that he was borrowing the Chevy S-10 to take a female on a date. When returned, Nelson said he noticed he was missing a hatchet, tow rope and tools, approximately 500 miles was added to the trip meter and the vehicle had been cleaned inside and out.

"In the several other occasions where Bruce borrowed the truck, he had never cleaned and washed the truck," read the charging documents.

Nelson told officers that when he confronted Bruce Butler, his friend eventually admitted to killing Lynn Butler. He said that Bruce told him not to be a "rat."

Fast forward another year, the charging documents say that on June 4, 2017, an unnamed source told officers that she came into contact with Bruce Butler. The documents read that she said he mentioned he was "involved in the Denali double murder case," then later said "he could not tell her how he committed the murders, because he could be prosecuted."

On June 20, 2017, Bruce Butler was arrested. Bail is set at $500,000 cash, plus third party custodian.

On June 21, 2017, he made appearance via video conference from jail. He will be back at the Palmer Courthouse, in person, on June 27, 2017.

The couple found dead Sunday in a dilapidated trailer off Denali Highway appear to have died of gunshot wounds, Alaska State Troopers say.

The deaths are being investigated as a double homicide.

Troopers on Thursday identified the deceased as Richard A. Casler, 61, and Lynn M. Butler, 42, both of Wasilla. The pair had been reported missing days earlier from a campsite near Mile 79 of the highway.

Investigators ruled out murder-suicide in the case, trooper spokeswoman Beth Ipsen said.

"Troopers are following all leads and are actively seeking information regarding the person responsible for the deaths of Richard and Lynn," she wrote in an email.

It is unclear if either of the victims was alive when the trailer was first discovered during a search Sunday, which prompted authorities to set up a perimeter in the area.

Autopsies found that Casler and Butler, whom troopers previously described as a couple, died of gunshot wounds.

Terri Trask, a woman who described herself as a longtime friend of Lynn Butler, said Butler had planned on going halibut fishing but instead made arrangements to go camping off the Denali Highway in an area she had never visited.

Trask said that as far as she knows, Casler and Butler were friends but not a couple.

She said Casler was a mutual friend of Butler and her husband, who filed for divorce in March and had not lived with the deceased since January.

"Lynn loved the outdoors so it was not unusual. Her work closes for the week of the fourth, annually. It was her only chance to get a break," Trask said. "She was not currently in a relationship."

Terry Mason, a friend of Casler for more than 25 years, said the deceased often went hunting and fishing and was a retired U.S. Postal Service worker who delivered mail in the area for years.

Mason said he was contacted by troopers while he was fishing for halibut in Homer.

"In my book he’s a decent guy," Mason said. "He don’t deserve that."

Ipsen said the nature of the call changed dramatically as troopers responded, shifting from a search-and-rescue mission near the victims' campsite to an apparent standoff at the trailer, ultimately becoming a homicide investigation.

“There was enough at the campsite to be kind of suspicious, so troopers got involved and that’s what led us to the trailer,” Ipsen said. “They heard some noises in (the trailer), so they thought there might be a barricaded subject, so they called for reinforcements.”

Ipsen said that troopers are seeking information from the public. She said it wasn’t clear how long troopers had had the trailer surrounded before entering, and declined to discuss whether troopers have identified a suspect in the deaths.

“We still don’t know what that noise was,” Ipsen said. “We’re still trying to determine a lot about this case; that’s why we’re hoping somebody who was in the area might have seen something.” Anyone recreating in the area of the Denali Highway where Casler and Butler died over the Fourth of July weekend, or anyone with information about their deaths, is asked to call troopers at 907-451-5100.

Alaska State Troopers on Sunday found the bodies of a man and woman reported missing two days earlier from a Denali Highway campsite, the agency says.

The pair were reported missing 9:15 p.m. Friday from a campsite at Mile 79, according to a trooper dispatch posted online. Authorities searched the area around their vehicle and camper trailer and found “evidence suggesting an altercation involving gunfire."

The man and woman were nowhere to be seen.

Troopers began searching the area by air, with the help of Wilderness Search and Rescue volunteers. At about 4 p.m. Sunday, troopers heard sounds coming from a dilapidated trailer in the area and found evidence that suggested the missing couple might be inside.

Trooper spokeswoman Beth Ipsen said she did not know what kind of sounds were coming from the trailer. "It's unclear if anyone was alive at that time," she said.

Authorities set up a perimeter around the trailer and made their way inside, where the two bodies were found.

Ipsen said she does not know if gunshots were heard between the discovery of the trailer and troopers' entry, nor how long authorities waited before going inside.

"There are still a lot of details that have yet to be determined and information that I don’t have because there hasn’t been much communication out of that area," she said.

Troopers and the Alaska Bureau of Investigation are still in the area today, gathering evidence as the investigation continues. The bodies will be autopsied by the state Medical Examiner’s Office.

Troopers have not publicly named the deceased, pending positive identification and notification of family members.

It was not immediately clear if authorities suspect the deaths are the result of a murder-suicide or if a third person might have been involved.

"At this time, troopers are still trying to figure out if someone else was involved or if this is an isolated incident," Ipsen said.