A Virginia man has been arrested more than four years after authorities say he strangled his wife to death as she was preparing to leave him, then staged the scene to make it look like she died by suicide.
Ross Butler, 56, was indicted by a grand jury in Chesterfield, Virginia, on May 18 on charges of murder and strangulation in the death of his wife, 36-year-old Ashlee Butler.
The case dates back to Dec. 20, 2021, when Ashlee was found dead inside the couple’s home on the 5500 block of Alberta Road in Chesterfield, an unincorporated community about 15 miles southwest of Richmond.
At first, her death was reported as a suicide.
But investigators say the evidence did not add up.
According to the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office in Florida, detectives later determined that the evidence at the scene and Ashlee’s injuries were not consistent with suicide. Authorities now believe the scene had been staged after she was strangled to death.
Family members and witnesses who knew Ashlee later came forward with concerns about the circumstances surrounding her death.
A Chesterfield police spokesperson told WTVR that investigators learned Ashlee had gone home to pack her belongings because she was preparing to leave her husband.
Police believe that is when she was killed.
“It was then that police believe Ashlee was strangled to death,” the spokesperson said, adding that there was a history of domestic violence in the home.
As Virginia authorities investigated Ross Butler, he reportedly requested that a fundraiser be created to help cover Ashlee’s cremation and other expenses. A GoFundMe connected to those expenses later had its donations paused.
For years after Ashlee’s death, Butler remained free.
That changed after the grand jury indictment was handed down and authorities learned he had been living in Florida.
According to the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office, deputies discovered Butler was staying at a motel in the area. On Tuesday, they learned he had been admitted to a Florida hospital.
When he was released the following day, deputies arrested him and took him in for questioning.
Butler is now being held in the Flagler County Jail without bond while he awaits extradition back to Virginia.
Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly said the arrest should serve as a warning to fugitives.
“This case is an excellent example of teamwork and serves as a warning to fugitives that you can’t avoid the long arm of the law, especially in Flagler County,” Staly said.
“This guy thought he could get away with murder and live the rest of his life at the beach,” the sheriff continued. “Thanks to cooperation between our Criminal Intelligence Unit, Fugitive Apprehension Unit, the Chesterfield County Police Department, and the Flagler Beach Police Department, he’s hiding out no longer and will soon be headed back to Virginia to face justice.”
Butler is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.
