BOULDER COUNTY, Colo. – Five hours after a woman was found dead inside her Frederick home last week, Boulder County deputies discovered her husband had died by suicide about an hour away, according to new information released Monday evening.
Kevin Wayne Butler, 50, was considered as a person of interest by Frederick police in the July 5 shooting death of 36-year-old Emily Butler, whose lifeless body was found at the couple’s home in the Town of Frederick.
At around 8 p.m. that Friday, however, unbeknownst to Frederick police, Butler’s body would also be found near Mud Lake, after deputies with the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office were dispatched to a report of a single-vehicle crash in the 39000 block of the Peak to Peak Highway, just north of Nederland.
Once deputies arrived at the scene, they determined the vehicle involved in the crash was a vehicle of interest in the homicide investigation from earlier that day.
A preliminary investigation into Butler’s death suggests he died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound and that “his injuries were not the result of what was originally reported as a traffic accident,” according to a spokesperson from the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office.
“It is believed the vehicle rolled forward after Butler shot himself and came to rest after striking a tree at a low speed,” the spokesperson said.
A cause and manner of death for Butler has not been determined, but investigators from both the sheriff’s and coroner’s office are continuing to help the Frederick Police Department in their investigation.