Hog hunter faces murder, tampering charges

A hog hunter used his Jeep to block a “wallow road” in rural Carroll County after he realized somebody was “trespassing” on his hunting territory.

Christopher Kevin Butler, 43, of Eureka Springs hid in the bushes with an AR15-style rifle until a Dodge Dakota pickup approached, according to an affidavit of probable cause filed in Carroll County Circuit Court.

John Catlin Keck, 30, of Eureka Springs got out of the pickup and got into Butler’s Jeep, apparently intending to move it out of the way, according to the affidavit.

The men exchanged words. Keck started the Jeep.

Butler fired three shots, according to the affidavit. At least one of them hit Keck, who was pronounced dead at the scene.

Butler was charged Tuesday with first-degree murder and tampering with physical evidence. He has yet to enter a plea in the case. Butler is being held in the Carroll County jail in Berryville with bail set at $300,000.

The shooting occurred the night of Feb. 19. Butler called the sheriff’s office before the shooting, saying there were trespassers and there could be trouble, according to the affidavit.

When deputies arrived, Butler told them that he had left a P90 Ruger .45-caliber pistol on the passenger seat of the Jeep and that he thought he heard Keck “jack” a shell into the firing chamber after he got into Butler’s vehicle. Butler said he also thought he saw Keck point the gun out the window of the Jeep.

So, Butler said, he “popped off a couple rounds.”

“I felt like if I didn’t pull the trigger I was going to die,” Butler told police.

Soon after the shooting Butler called Brad Handley, a Eureka Springs police officer, and said, “Oh God! I killed someone. I didn’t want this. I wanted to go the rest of my life without this.”

Dustin Anderson, a hog-hunting buddy of But-

ler’s, told police that he carried the pistol to Butler after the shooting and before officers arrived. There was a second, identical Ruger pistol found between the seats of the Jeep. Both pistols are owned by Butler.

Anderson told police that Butler called him before the shooting and said he was going to block the wallow road and wait in the bushes for the trespassers to come along.

Police asked Butler if he put one of the pistols in the floorboard of the Jeep after the shooting. At first, Butler said no. When confronted with the testimony from Anderson, Butler told police that Anderson’s account was correct, according to the affidavit.

“I told Dustin, ‘Give me your .45,’ and I went up there

and threw it into the floorboard,” Butler told investigators Jerry Williams and David Deatherage with the Carroll County sheriff’s office.

When asked why he fabricated the story, Butler said, “Because I was scared. … I was afraid if that ol’ boy didn’t have a gun, then I’d be charged for murder.”

Major George Frye with the sheriff’s office said Butler didn’t own the property where the shooting took place, but he had permission from the landowner to hunt hogs. According to the affidavit, Butler went hog hunting five times a week.

Frye described the wallow road as “tire ruts through a

field on private property.” The shooting occurred in an area known as Stone Wall Mountain, a couple of miles north of Eureka Springs off Arkansas 23.

Tony Rogers, the Carroll County prosecutor, said he couldn’t comment regarding the “pending case.”

Butler told police that he thought there were two men in the pickup and that one of them had run off into the woods after he fired his gun, but there was no indication from the affidavit that a second person was in the pickup.

Butler told police that he had never seen Keck before.

Butler’s next court appearance is scheduled for April 4.