Suspected stabber indicted

PALMER -- A grand jury indicted Aaron Butler, 27, last week on charges of first- and second-degree murder for the March stabbing death of his mother, 54-year-old Grace Butler.

In a closed hearing, the grand jury heard testimony from an Alaska State Trooper investigator, a doctor from the State of Alaska Medical Examiner's office and a relative of the Butler's who troopers say found Grace and called 911 the evening she was stabbed.

In an affidavit that troopers filed in court to support the charges against Aaron Butler, troopers wrote that his mother was found bleeding on the couch in her home west of Wasilla at about 8:56 p.m. March 26. Grace told the person who had found her that she had been stabbed by her son, Aaron, and that he had locked himself in the bathroom, according to the affidavit. The relative stayed with Grace and talked to 911 dispatchers until Aaron came out of the bathroom, according to the affidavit. When troopers arrived, Aaron gave up without incident, according to AST.

At an arraignment hearing in Palmer the day after the murder, Judge Ethan Windell ordered a psychiatric evaluation for the accused killer.

The trooper's affidavit contains some evidence that Aaron Butler may have a history of psychiatric problems and drug use. In an interview following his arrest, Butler told troopers he had been diagnosed as a schizophrenic about four or five years ago. Butler also told investigators that he had been prescribed medication but had not taken his dose on the day of the murder.

The affidavit goes on to say that Butler told troopers he used methamphetamine the day before the murder and smoked marijuana with his mom the evening of the murder. According to the affidavit, Butler told troopers he had not been cautioned about using other drugs in conjunction with his medication.

Troopers also wrote that during the in-custody interviews, Aaron Butler described his relationship with his mother as good, but also said he had begun to have thoughts of harming her in the last year. Aaron told troopers that he had never discussed those thoughts with anyone, even the professionals who Aaron said he was seeing for treatment of his mental illness.