Accused to face sentencing in December for a long list of crimes related to kidnapping, violent assault, and death
Rodney Butler, 50, of Bulls Creek, showed no emotion today upon hearing a guilty verdict on all eight charges related to the kidnapping and violent assault of a Scotts Siding man in 2021.
Butler stood calmly before Chief Judge Brian C. McLean and promised to keep the peace until his sentencing on Dec. 16 at 1:30 p.m. He was released with conditions until that time.
The RCMP charged Butler with intentionally discharging a firearm while reckless as to the life and safety of another person. They also charged him with indictable assault, uttering threats, using a handgun to kidnap Chris Demerchant, unlawful confinement, possession of a weapon dangerous to the public peace, possession of a firearm without a licence, and illegal possession of a firearm in a vehicle on Nov. 13, 2021, at Bulls Creek.
Judge McLean found him guilty on all counts after a five-day trial. He is expected to impose a hefty federal prison sentence.
Defence Counsel Alex Pate requested a pre-sentence report for his client, while Crown Prosecutor Wesley McIntosh asked for victim impact statements before the sentence was handed down. The court heard submitting those documents to the judge may take three months.
No charges have been laid in relation to the killing of Christine Pelletier-Thibodeau, Butler’s former partner, who died from a gunshot wound to the neck during a shootout outside Butler’s residence on the night of the kidnapping.
Family members of the deceased were seated in the gallery and expressed relief about the verdict. However, they were disappointed the judge didn’t remand Butler until sentencing. They also voiced dismay that no one has been brought to justice for the shooting of their loved one.
“This is not a murder trial,” Judge McLean told the court while delivering his two-hour verdict. “Her death hangs over the entire event. We still do not know who killed Mr. Butler’s wife.”
There was testimony during the trial that Butler shot Pelletier-Thibdeau accidentally during the mayhem. Butler rebuked that evidence, saying he believed she was shot by one of two intruders on his property who came to rescue Demerchant and fired shots at his house.
On the witness stand, Butler admitted he had a handgun on the day in question and that he assaulted Demerchant by punching him. He also admitted firing the handgun in the woods in Benton but was evasive about whether he was trying to shoot Demerchant’s friend, Ryan Purvis, who Butler was after that day to settle a dispute. (Purvis died later in an unrelated drowning in Woodstock).
Under cross-examination, Butler agreed he fired several shots into the back of the car parked in the woods using a nine-millimetre handgun. Police never found the Smith and Wesson gun after the incident.
Butler told the court he did not know where the handgun went. He thought he put it back under the seat of Pelletier-Thibodeau’s Ford Escape. She was the driver of the vehicle during the day-long incident. Police towed the vehicle away during the investigation.
Butler denied he kidnapped and pistol-whipped Demerchant with the handgun in the backseat of the vehicle. He also testified he never drove a knife into the table at Demerchant’s home, and he did not escort him from the residence at gunpoint to go find Purvis.
Police photos presented by the crown showed Demerchant suffered multiple severe injuries to his face and head. There were also bloodstains where he was seated in the vehicle.
Butler said Demerchant was injured when he punched him, and he fell to the ground outside the vehicle, hitting his head on a tire rim. Then Butler said Pelletier-Thibodeau and Timothy Grant kicked Demerchant repeatedly with their boots until he told them to stop.
Demerchant’s evidence was corroborated by Krista Grant and Kenneth Hatheway, close friends of Demerchant, who witnessed the kidnapping and knife in the table at Demerchant’s residence.
Butler’s friend, Timothy Grant, testified for the crown and charges against him were withdrawn. Grant was a passenger and an eye witness to the pistol-whipping in the backseat of the vehicle and heard him threaten Demerchant at gunpoint. He also heard Butler fire shots at Purvis’ vehicle in the Benton woods.
Demerchant testified he was severely injured in the backseat and feared for his life during the kidnapping. When they arrived at Butler’s residence later in the evening, he said Butler pointed the handgun at his head and told him a bear and a human looked the same “skinned out.”
Judge McLean described the trial as a “saga about the aftermath of a feud” over vehicles for salvage and bad feelings between Butler, Purvis, and Demerchant that catapulted into violence and revenge.
McLean told the court he exercised caution in examining the credibility of some crown witnesses because of motive or criminal background. Still, he ruled their testimony was clear with regard to the violent acts committed by Butler. Purvis would have been another key crown witness if he had not died before the trial.
The judge said he did not accept the majority of Butler’s testimony, noting the accused attempted to exonerate himself of the most serious offences involved.
“Most of Mr. Butler’s evidence is exculpatory,” McLean stated. “I believe he was armed and intent on violence.”
The photos of Demerchant’s multiple severe injuries and bloodstains in the backseat of the vehicle were central to the crown’s case.
