Couple fend off home invader
By Bill Bryan
Published: Sunday, Feb. 08 2004
James and Suzanne Butler had retired for the night Friday when a man who they say had been harassing them for a year kicked in their back door and rushed into their bedroom, armed with a rifle and a handgun.
"He was shooting with the rifle as soon as he came into the bedroom," Butler said in a telephone interview Sunday from his home outside Rolla, Mo. "My wife grabbed the barrel and she got shot, but it allowed me the time to get my gun" from a nightstand drawer.
Butler fired several shots, killing David W. Brown, 45.
"We're very, very lucky," said Butler, 48, who was grazed on the neck. "My wife saved my life by giving me the time to get my gun."
Suzanne Butler, 44, was shot through the hand and upper forearm. Both Butlers were treated and released from the hospital.
"It's certainly a bizarre case," said Sgt. Mark Williams of the Phelps County sheriff's office. "It's like something out of the movies."
About three years ago, James Butler said the couple took pity on Brown, who lived a half-mile from them in a trailer with no electricity and no running water. The Butlers, who live in a rural area about 15 miles southeast of Rolla, gave Brown some odd jobs to do - cutting the grass, clearing out brush.
But then one day in February a year ago, Suzanne Butler reported seeing the man outside her home peering through the window.
Butler said that after telling Brown to stay away, the couple's nightmare began. They were harassed by phone calls with immediate hangups, more suspected peeping, honking horns from passing vehicles and home break-ins while they were away. On Christmas Eve, Suzanne Butler scuffled with Brown when she arrived home and found him coming out of her house.
"Things were getting worse and escalating. Like a moth to a flame, (Brown) wasn't going to go away," James Butler said.
The violent climax happened about 11 p.m. Friday night when Brown broke into the couple's home and confronted the Butlers. Moments later, he was dead and the Butlers were wounded.
At the time, Brown was wanted on warrants for burglary, trespassing and other charges related to the Christmas Eve incident.
"We've tried to arrest him a few times, but he was elusive," said Sgt. Williams.
"The Butlers thought something like this might happen, and they're a little upset with us for not having arrested him."
Williams said the Butlers will not face any charges. He called Suzanne Butler's actions "pretty heroic."
James Butler is a business representative in several counties for a carpenters union. Suzanne Butler works part time at a tanning salon in Rolla.
After the first report of window-peeping, Phelps County authorities went to arrest Brown, but he barricaded himself in his trailer, threatening to kill himself or any deputy who approached. "A negotiator finally convinced him to surrender," Williams said.
Brown underwent a psychiatric examination at a local hospital, and a doctor declared him mentally fit and not a danger to himself or others. Meanwhile, Suzanne Butler got a court order of protection against Brown, but she started getting harassing phone calls at work, her husband said.
James Butler said he hopes for an end to an ugly chapter in the couple's life, but he said he can't be sure. Less than two weeks ago, Butler said he had a confrontation with some relatives of Brown's who were driving by his house and had stopped to curse him.
Reporter Bill Bryan
E-mail: bbryan@post-dispatch.com
Phone: 314-340-8950
