After 34 Years, Bloody Jacket Revives Braintree Murder Case

A modern DNA test on a jacket is apparently the reason why former Braintree resident Keith Butler is back in Massachusetts to face a murder charge stemming from 1981.

The 57-year-old was expected to be arranged Monday, but the case was continued to Tuesday morning after issues surrounding his legal representation arose.

This will be the third time Butler will be in court for the murder. His two previous trials in April and December of 1983 resulted in hung juries. The case was withdrawn from the trial list in January 1984.

Butler was indicted by a Norfolk County grand jury on May 6 for the murder of his neighbor Francis Hussey, who was 41 at the time of his death. Butler was arrested on a warrant on May 8 and returned to Massachusetts on May 29.

“I applaud the District Attorney and the State Police detectives assigned to his office for continuing to pursue this and other older cases. The message should be clear that unsolved crimes committed in Norfolk County will not get a pass due to the passage of time,” Braintree Police Chief Russell Jenkins said in a statement.

Authorities believe Butler killed Hussey in his home on Jan. 15, 1981.

According to court documents, Butler was 24 years old when he allegedly murdered Hussey. On the evening of Jan. 17, 1981, Butler, at his family’s home on Liberty Street, told his parents that he was going to check on Hussey, who lived two houses down. Upon his return, Butler asked for help from his father Robert Butler, stating that something had happened to his neighbor.

The two returned to Hussey’s home after the police were called with Robert Butler looking through a window in the back of the house. It was there he saw a man lying on the floor that ended up being a beaten and bruised Hussey, wearing only his robe and underwear.

When police investigated the Hussey residence, they noticed that the house was neat and clean, but six oriental rugs were missing, the phone line was cut, the gas on the stove was left on, a broken glass was on the floor, and an empty bottle of J&B scotch was in a trash bag. It was later determined that the glass had Hussey’s fingerprints on it.

When interviewed by police, Butler said he last saw Hussey alive on Thursday, Jan. 15, 1981 when they had dinner and drinks at Hussey’s home. Butler left at 11:30 p.m., under the impression that Hussey was going to a club in Boston for the remainder of the evening.

Butler said he called Hussey’s home the next day, but there was no answer. On Saturday, he said he saw Hussey dead on the floor.

When asked where he was on Jan. 16, 1981, Butler said he had lunch and ran errands in Brockton with a friend. A red stain that appeared to be blood was noticed on Butler’s jacket, and shoes with no explanation with where it came from.

Butler’s friend William Reagan confirmed that the two met at 1:30 p.m. Friday with Butler asking for a ride to Blue Hills to pick up rugs and take them to Brockton. The two never traveled to Blue Hills as Reagan said he did not have time. After lunch, the two drove by Liberty Street, with Reagan noticing that Butler was staring at Hussey’s home. Afterward, the two went to the house of a man who was supposed to buy the rugs from Butler but no one was home. The pair returned to Braintree.

Garry Swain, the man who was supposed to buy six rugs from Butler, said he was expecting Butler to come by his home Friday morning, but he never showed up. Swain chose to not deal with him again.

Butler also told police he had an intimate relationship with Hussey seven years earlier but were now friends. When Hussey left after dinner on Jan. 15, 1981, Butler was under the impression he was going to a club to find someone to have sex with. He claimed that he asked Hussey not to drive due to the weather and the fact they were drinking.

Hussey’s car was later discovered in an MBTA parking lot in Braintree with a ticket stating that it entered the lot on Jan. 16, 1981 at 7:23 a.m. There was no damage to the ignition block.

On Monday, Jan. 18, 1981, Butler’s brother, a Braintree police officer, noticed what appeared to be blood on his brother’s shoes. Police were able to obtain a search warrant to seize the shoes and other articles of clothing from Butler.

Decades later, A new DNA test on Butler’s jacket confirmed that Hussey’s DNA profile was on the jacket. The odds of someone having the same DNA profile are over 1 in 32 trillion.

State Police have located several witnesses from the original investigation and trials who are still available and cooperating with the current proceedings.