A father was returned to Orange County on Tuesday after he was arrested in Las Vegas on suspicion of killing his daughter and keeping her body in a freezer in his RV.
Clarence Butterfield, 55, formerly of San Clemente, Calif., was scheduled to be arraigned Thursday on one felony count of special circumstances murder with torture and two felony counts of assault with a firearm.
In December 2006, Butterfield allegedly shot his daughter, 21-year-old Rebekah Butterfield, multiple times, suffocated her and hid her body in the freezer of his RV, according to Orange County prosecutors.
"In September 2008, Butterfield was arrested on an unrelated case in Orange County for obstructing a police officer, and was sent to Nevada on an unrelated criminal warrant from that state. His RV, which was left in the alley of an acquaintance's business, was towed," according to the Orange County District Attorney's Office.
Employees of the towing company eventually discovered the body on Oct. 28, 2008.
If convicted on all counts, Butterfield faces a minimum sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole. These charges make him eligible for the death penalty.
