Brian Butler, 46-years old, was killed in a dog attack; police suspect three pit bulls.
Owner Arrested
UPDATE 07/03/19: On Wednesday, police arrested Daniel Kai Alexander, 29-years old, of Gilbertsville, KY on a felony arrest warrant in connection to dog mauling death of Brian Butler. Alexander is one of the owners of the three pit bulls in custody that were seized after his death. Evidence shows that Alexander "tampered with physical evidence at the scene" on June 29, 2019. Alexander also had knowledge of Butler's body on McCoy Lane but did not contact authorities.
Alexander was charged with Tampering with Physical Evidence, a Class D Felony, as well as Duty of Person, Hospital, or Institution Finding or Possessing Dead Body, a Class B Misdemeanor. At this time, Kentucky State Police are confident that the three pit bulls in custody belonging to Alexander were the only dogs responsible in Butler's mauling death. Police, however, are still urging the community of Gilbertsville to exercise caution toward any roaming dogs in the area.
Daniel Kai Alexander goes by "Kai Alexander" on Facebook. His girlfriend, Tonya Speece, has photographs of three pit bulls on her Facebook page. A male pit bull, named Chevy, escaped the couple's property back in January and was found wandering on the side of I-24 East.
Daniel Kai Alexander, 29, was arrested after his three pit bulls killed Brian Butler in Gilbertsville.
Daniel's girlfriend has three pit bulls on her Facebook page. "Chevy," (on left) escaped in January.
07/01/19: Sister of Victim Speaks Out
On June 29, Brian "Scott" Butler was discovered dead off of Gilbertsville Highway near McCoy Lane. The Western Kentucky Regional Medical Examiners Office determined the cause of death was "sharp force trauma from a dog attack." State troopers initially seized two pit bulls suspected in the attack. Butler’s sister, Cheryl Roberts, spoke to WPSD and said that she wants answers about his death. “This is a horrendous crime right here, and I want answers," Roberts said.
Police spray painted an orange outline around where Butler was found dead. Roberts said her brother was down on his luck and homeless at the time. He often slept on couches in the neighborhood where he was found, Roberts said. Nora and Randy Nichols, who live one street over, said they might have been the last to see Butler alive. They saw him walking down the road before the attack. The Nichols were so concerned about loose dogs that they installed a fence.
On Monday, police seized a third dog from a home just a few hundred feet away from where Butler's body was found. The canine was taken as part of the investigation, but police do not believe it was involved in the deadly attack. Kentucky State Police Trooper Bryan Luckett said Butler suffered severe facial injuries and had puncture wounds. Roberts, however, questions whether dogs were involved in his death. "He slept with them dogs," Roberts said in disbelief.
Kentucky State Police will likely do DNA testing on the two impounded pit bulls to determine if they were involved in the gruesome attack. So far, no witnesses of the fatal dog mauling are known.
06/30/19: Police News Release
Gilbertsville, KY - Detectives with the Kentucky State Police (KSP) are investigating the death of a man found in Western Kentucky on Saturday night. The victim has been identified as Brian S. Butler, 46-years old, of Benton, Kentucky. Police were notified just after 8:00 pm on June 29 that a passerby discovered a body laying near a local roadway in Gilbertsville. An autopsy, scheduled for Sunday, June 30, will determine his cause of death. The investigation is active and ongoing.
Two pit bulls were found near his body and seized by authorities. Police say additional dogs may be involved and advised residents to be cautious of any loose dogs in the area. Butler's death marks the third fatal pit bull attack in Kentucky this year, including the February death of 1-year old Ashton McGhee in Guthrie and the May death of 2-year old Isaiah Geiling in Louisville. Both children were killed by family pit bulls. In 2018, two people were killed by pit bulls in Kentucky.
KSP Investigating Death of Marshall County ManGilbertsville, KY (June 29, 2019) – Detectives with the Kentucky State Police are investigating the death of a Marshall County man after he was found dead in the Gilbertsville community on Saturday night. KSP was notified just after 8:00 PM on June 29th after a passerby discovered the body laying near a local roadway. Detectives identified the deceased as 46-year-old, Brian Butler of Benton. An autopsy has been requested to assist investigators in determining what may have caused the death of Butler. Anyone who may have spoken with Brian Butler over the past several days are asked to contact Kentucky State Police, Post 1 at 270-856-3721. The investigation is ongoing and more information will be released following the autopsy which is tentatively scheduled for Sunday, June 30th.
Preliminary Autopsy Results
On Sunday, June 30, an autopsy was conducted on Brian Butler of Benton. The preliminary diagnoses indicates that the cause of death was sharp force trauma from a dog attack, states a news release by the Kentucky State Police. Two pit bulls suspected in his death were seized and are being held in quarantine by Marshall County Animal Control. Police believe "additional dog(s) may be involved in the attack that resulted in Mr. Butler's death," states the KSP news release.
KSP Investigating Death of Marshall County ManPreliminary diagnoses indicated that the manner of death was sharp force trauma from a dog attack.
(June 30, 2019) – On Sunday June 30 th, 2019 an autopsy was performed on Brian S. Butler of Benton, KY at the Western Kentucky Regional Medical Examiners Office in Madisonville, KY. Preliminary diagnoses indicated that the manner of death was sharp force trauma from a dog attack.
On Saturday June 29th, 2019 two pit bulls were located in the area where Mr. Butler was located. These two dogs have been quarantined by Marshall County Animal Control until further information can be gathered. The Kentucky State Police are urging the public in the Gilbertsville, KY community to be cautious of any loose dogs in the area. It is possible that additional dog(s) may be involved in the attack that resulted in Mr. Butlers death.
Orange outline of man found mauled to death by pit bulls on roadside in Gilbertsville, Kentucky.
Mailboxes seen on McCoy Lane near where Brian Butler, 46, was fatally attacked by pit bulls.
View the DogsBite.org Google State Map: Kentucky Fatal Pit Bull Attacks.Related articles:
05/03/19: 2019 Dog Bite Fatality: Family Pit Bull Kills 2-Year Old Boy in Louisville, Kentucky
02/11/19: 2019 Dog Bite Fatality: Family Pit Bull-Mix Kills Baby Boy in Guthrie, Kentucky
01/26/19: 2018 Dog Bite Fatality: Winchester Mother Dies After Pit Bull Mauling Inside Her Home
Law enforcement departments across the United States should release consistent "baseline" information to the media and the public after each fatal dog mauling, including these items.
It should be legal to shoot loose pits on sight along with other weaponized dogs like preso canarios and dogo argentinos. These kinds of dogs are just too dangerous to be running loose.
I second that!
In Arizona, where I live, lethal force is ok if needed to defend against immediate attack from dangerous animal. In my residential neighborhood, German, Belgian and Australian shepherds are the dangerous, loose animals of choice. 8,000 pedestrian miles and two immediate split tenth of a second loose Shepherd attack self-defense cases are what I have to show for athletic leg muscles. Problem:Municipal and county police and prosecutors have added me to their Hate List. I see pedestrians walking around happily as if they are in Paradise. Dog people will never stop letting their killer animals out to attack pedestrians. If all pedestrians were properly defended, the problem would soon be extinguished.
And, let me guess: You live in Tucson. That’s where I live, and I know the municipal authority hate list well. Also the county authority hate list, especially at our local animal “care” agency.
I put the word “care” in quotes because that’s the last thing they do. My neighborhood has been besieged by loose pit bulls, we call to make reports, and …
… nothing happens.
But it isn’t just the authorities. You’ll also see out-of-control dog worship on our local NextDoor site. Including the worship of pit bulls and other dangerous dogs.
Tip: Whatever you do, don’t EVER say anything bad about dogs on NextDoor.
Quote: “and …
… nothing happens.”
Same here, in Prescott. And almost everywhere. Dangerous dogs roam the street, people go to the hospital. Active pedestrians give up and stop their nice walks because local law suppresses them. That is the way Local Law wants it to be. Refuse in three tenths of a second to go to the hospital, go to jail for disturbing their desired equilibrium. Well, there is change afoot in Prescott. City Prosecutor took me to criminal trial for verbally saying to a notorious at large dog person that below the knee is defensible against small dog imminent injury attack. The prosecutor said that my verbally informing Mr. At Large Dog Guy of this was wrong, disorderly and disturbing. After a 90 minute, super tense criminal trial, I got acquitted, because state law is on my side. This court ruling has sent shockwaves through the Prescott At Large Dog Owner-Police-Prosecutor complex. All three are devastated that their equilibrium has been shattered by a Nice Guy that refuses in three tenths of a second to be severely mauled, or even to have his ankle injured. Distal portions of the defenders’ body are Not excluded from state self defense law! I represented myself, no defense attorney was needed for me to successfully confront the Police Sergeant and the Prosecutor for willfully maliciously making the pedestrian the criminal.
Good job! It’s a sin decent people have to go to court to get the authorities on the right side of the law.
Frightening…It’s “disorderly” to simply say something that someone doesn’t like, but it’s not disorderly to let dangerous dogs loose. Authorities in your town truly people haters and dog worshipers.
The article says “two pit bulls were picked up nearby”….wait for the pit bull lobby to say the pit bulls were just guarding the body, waiting for help to come, and that the man was killed by another breed of dog….(chihuahuas?) After all, chihuahuas bite more……The owner of these pit bulls should go to jail and the dogs euthanized immediately.
Thank you “YourQuietNeighbor” for stating:
“Tip: Whatever you do, don’t EVER say anything bad about dogs on NextDoor.”
That’s the truth!
After a near pit bull attack in our neighborhood, where we saw the beast getting shocked by its invisible fence, we posted a warning to other neighbors on that site.
Another neighbor came to the pit bull owners defense saying online it is a “rescued pit fighting bait dog with scars from being attacked by other pits…but it is so friendly”. 🙁
Then we really got attacked by the NextDoor pit bull lovers, but we still reported it in-person and in-writing to the HOA, the police and the animal control peeps. They all could care less.
NextDoor took the post down due to the online threats we received.
The neighbor moved last year and took the beast with her. Good Riddance!
That’s truly disheartening. Imagine how sick and brainwashed people need to be, in order to attack their peaceful, law-abiding neighbors, and choose to defend and glorify dangerous beasts instead! When you hear things like that, you can’t help thinking we live in a giant mental facility, so much sickness and insanity all around, people’s values are so distorted and upside down. Seriously, attacking a good family that is an asset to your neighborhood, in order to express your adoration for dogs, whose next victim could be you or your loved one!
Even a couple of generations ago, people valued their family, their church, their community and their country, and dogs were simply animals used to guard the farm. And now we’re at the point where people refuse to have a family, hate their neighbors, hate their country, and join dog-worshiping cults. So sick and frightening.
Roberts, however, questions whether dogs were involved in his death. “He slept with them dogs,” Roberts said in disbelief.
And there is the problem, them dogs can be sweet, cuddle bugs and out of nowhere tear you apart. I don’t know why some people still, in 2019, find this so hard to believe.
Sleep with pits and a fate worse than fleas awaits you.
I also want to comment that that paint outline of the body looks like nothing more than a torso. Did the pits rip off all his appendages and his head?
That’s what I was wondering!
Glad to hear an arrest has been made. Here is hoping the jury convicts. So many people are brainwashed in to thinking fighting dogs can do no wrong. You know a “pit bull expert” will testify that all pits are not human aggressive and they only maul in self defense. Anyone wanna bet “tampering with evidence” means “washing blood off of pits”?
Based on the torso outline, probably also means he threw away an arm one of them brought home to knaw on.
It’s amazing how pit bull owners can be so much like their disgusting “pet” of choice. Violent, psychopathic, abnormal, abhorrent, antisocial, inbred, trashy, low IQ, felonious, and just plain nasty trash that have no business is normal society.
When you know your dogs slaughtered an innocent man on the side of the road, and you scramble to protect your own sorry ass and that of your vile dogs, rather than calling 911 and administering aid, then you deserve the same fate as your dogs.
There are no words strong enough to describe this sub-human oxygen thief.
Much like your lovely dogs, Mr. Alexander, it’s all in how you raise them, right? Your parents must be so proud.
Condolences to the family of Brian Butler.
Time to get a can of pepper spray and a can of mace if you like to walk in territory that has been invaded and now is “owned” by territorial pit bulls.
For the ones unphased by the pepper spray and mace, try a taser. These should buy you time to escape. If not, the 4th remedy is a concealed carry permit, to be used only in last resort emergency. On the other hand, I will bet your neighborhood is very much free of crime!