The sentencing hearing for a man found guilty of beating his sister-in-law to death with a toilet tank lid began yesterday, with testimony from a Regina police officer and gripping statements from the victim’s family.
Kenneth Butler, 26, sat silent in a Court of Queen’s Bench prisoner’s box, staring forward blankly between sips of water, occasionally raising his eyebrows through testimony.
“He was yelling he wanted to kill someone, but it wasn’t directed at anyone at that point,” said Const. Craig Solomon, a Regina police officer who happened upon Butler screaming on a street corner weeks before the brutal murder.
“He kept repeating that he was from outer space —from Saturn.”
He had been living in Regina, because his brother, Michael, bought a house and helped him move.
After his altercation with police, Kenneth Butler admitted himself into a psychiatric hospital. He returned to Edmonton after his release.
Stephanie Butler, 25, was found dead inside her bedroom by her father, Douglas Mah Poy, on April 7, 2007.
He took the stand yesterday, explaining the gruesome reality of how the gruesome death has affected his family.
The sentencing hearing is expected to last all week.
