PRATTVILLE, Ala. (TCN) -- A 37-year-old man will spend the rest of his life behind bars for kidnapping and raping two underage girls in 2022 in what prosecutors called "an emotional case."
The 19th Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office announced Thursday, June 13, that a judge sentenced Michael Jerome Butler to eight consecutive life sentences in state prison. Butler pleaded guilty in April to two counts of first-degree kidnapping, two counts of first-degree rape, two counts of first-degree sodomy, first-degree robbery, and sexual torture.
He is also accused of fatally shooting Victoria Malet in St. Clair County. Her body was found in a wooded area on Nov. 6, 2022. AL.com reports Butler is scheduled to go to trial in November. Records show he is now in custody at the St. Clair County Jail.
According to AL.com, on Nov. 3, 2022, two 17-year-old girls were leaving a local Walgreens when Butler kidnapped them, fled in their car, and sexually assaulted them at gunpoint. He reportedly later drove to Georgia in the victims' car and allegedly committed other crimes, including robbery and armed home invasion.
The Elmore Autauga News reports Butler told the victims their names were written on the bullets in his gun, though the victims did not know him before the incident. Butler reportedly claimed he wanted to be a famous serial killer with movies made about his life.
Leeds Police Department officers captured Butler after a pursuit. He reportedly crashed into an embankment and fled on foot, but he was soon caught and arrested.
Butler is a convicted felon, and 19th Circuit District Attorney CJ Robinson described his objections to prison reform in a statement.
He wrote, "The bottom line is simple. ... A monster like Michael Butler was in prison on his fourth felony by a court out of South Alabama, but was released early without an ankle monitor (which was required) then failed to show up for supervision."
Robinson continued, "Butler drove to our circuit and began his reign of terror. There is no excuse, no justification, and no dollar amount that can soften the nauseating reality that these unspeakable acts of violence could have avoided."
According to the Elmore Autauga News, one of the victims told Butler at his sentencing hearing, "You have no power over me."
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