Former Braintree Resident Pleads Not Guilty to 1981 Murder Charge

A former Braintree resident accused of murdering a neighbor in 1981 pleaded not guilty to a charge of murder in Norfolk Superior Court Wednesday morning.

Norfolk Superior Court Judge Douglas H. Wilkins ordered Keith Butler to be held on $2,500 cash bail with conditions that he not to be released until he is fitted with a GPS device, that he is subjected to GPS monitoring, have a 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew, abstain from alcohol and submit to random testing, surrender his passport, reside in Eastern Massachusetts (initially with his mother in Quincy) and report to probation as ordered.

Assistant District Attorney Greg Connor requested that Butler be held without bail during the pendency of the murder case, citing both his history of 10 defaults and the seriousness of the charges..

Defense Attorney Larry Tipton cited the defendant’s family in the area and his history of not failing to appear during his previous 1983 trials while free on $2,500 cash bail and asked that the defendant be free on personal recognizance as a non-flight risk.

On May 6, Butler was indicted by a Norfolk County grand jury for the murder of Francis X. Hussey, who was 41 at the time of his death. On Jan. 17, 1981, Hussey was found dead in his Liberty Street house. He was discovered on the floor of his kitchen, with obvious signs of head trauma. No murder weapon was ever recovered.

Hussey and Butler lived two doors apart for several years and were well known to each other. Six expensive oriental rugs were missing from the residence when authorities came to the scene. Those items were never recovered.

On May 8, Butler was arrested by authorities in Florida on a warrant for the murder and he returned to Massachusetts on May 29.

He is due back in the Norfolk Superior Court for a pre-trial conference at 2 p.m. on July 20, 2015.