On July 19, 2009, Isaiah Kalebu broke into the house of Teresa Butz and Jennifer Hopper in South Park, Seattle and raped and stabbed them. Butz died from her injuries while Hopper lived. Kalebu was found guilty of aggravated murder, attempted murder, and rape, and was sentenced to deathrow. The case is the subject of the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing work, The Bravest Woman in Seattle.
| 2009 South Park attacks | |
|---|---|
| Location | South Park, Seattle, Washington, U.S. |
| Date | July 19, 2009 |
Attack type | |
| Deaths | 1 |
| Injured | 1 |
| Verdict | Guilty |
| Convictions | |
| Convicted | Isaiah Kalebu (life imprisonment without the possibility of parole) |
| Judge | Michael Hayden |
Background
editVictims
editTeresa Butz (October 1969 – July 19, 2009)[1] was originally from St. Louis, Missouri,[2] and had 10 siblings.[3] She studied at the University of Missouri–St. Louis, where she graduated with a degree in business. She moved to Seattle in the 1990s.[1]
She was in a same-sex relationship with Jennifer Hopper.[4] The couple were planning to get married[2] and scheduled a trip to Barcelona for Butz's 40th birthday in October.[1]
Perpetrator
editIsaiah Kalebu was 23-years-old at the time of the attacks and had a history with mental illness.[5] He was previously charged with felony harassment after he made threads of killing his mother. Judge Brian Gain let Kalebu out on no bail in August 2008. Six days prior to the attacks, a prosecutor suggested that Kalebu be imprisoned again due to him being a suspect in an arson attack; Gain rejected the request.[6] He did not know Butz or Hopper prior to attacking them.[3]
Attack
editOn July 19, 2009,[6] Isaiah Kalebu entered the house of Teresa Butz, 39, and Jennifer Hopper, 36 in South Park, Seattle, through an open bathroom window.[7][5] He raped and cut the women for two hours.[2] He told them he would not harm them if they complied, which was false.[2]
Butz threw a table at the window, breaking it, and jumped out and onto the street to seek help at around 3:00 am.[2][7][6] She died on the street, covered in blood.[2] Hopper was hospitalized at the Harborview Medical Center.[1]
Arrest and trial
editPolice released surveillance footage of Kalebu committing an unrelated burglary with his dog in an attempt to locate him. A bus driver saw him with the dog and called the police at Magnuson Park.[5][2] Isaiah Kalebu was arrested on July 24, 2009, and he was positively connected to the crime through DNA evidence left behind.[2]
Kalebu was charged with aggravated murder, attempted murder, rape, and burglary.[2] His bail was set at $10 million.[5][6] The trial was postponed once due to Kalebu's suicide attempt. During the trial, Kalebu was restrained to a chair, cursed Judge Michael Hayden, and made homophobic comments.[3]
On August 12, 2011, Kalebu was sentenced to deathrow without the possibility of parole for the aggravated murder of Butz and the attempted first-degree murder and first-degree rape of Hopper. He was also found guilty for first-degree burglary.[3] He is imprisoned in Clallam Bay Corrections Center.[8]
In media
edit- Eli Sanders won the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing for the work The Bravest Woman in Seattle, about Hopper and the attacks.[9]
- Eli Sanders's book While the City Slept is about Kalebu and the lead-up to the attacks.[10][8]
References
edit- 1 2 3 4 Miletich, Steve; Green, Sara Jean; Lucas, Phillip (July 21, 2009). "South Park stabbing victim had "taste for life"". The Seattle Times. Archived from the original on June 8, 2026. Retrieved June 8, 2026.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Johnson, Gene (June 9, 2011). "Victim recounts brutal attack that killed partner". NBC News. Retrieved June 8, 2026.
- 1 2 3 4 Sullivan, Jennifer (August 12, 2011). "South Park killer Kalebu sentenced to death without parole for murder, rapes". The Seattle Times. Archived from the original on December 7, 2022. Retrieved June 8, 2026.
- ↑ Brodeur, Nicole (July 17, 2019). "10 years after attack that killed her partner, South Park survivor sings to heal". The Seattle Times. Archived from the original on July 17, 2019. Retrieved June 8, 2026.
- 1 2 3 4 "$10 million bail set in Seattle stabbing case". NBC News. July 26, 2009. Archived from the original on December 1, 2020. Retrieved June 8, 2026.
- 1 2 3 4 Netter, Sarah (July 27, 2009). "Washington Man Charged in Brutal Home Invasion Days After Judge Declined to Jail Him". ABC News. Retrieved June 8, 2026.
- 1 2 Brodeur, Nicole (April 13, 2014). "The songs of a survivor". The Seattle Times. Archived from the original on December 4, 2022. Retrieved June 8, 2026.
- 1 2 Sanders, Eli (February 6, 2016). "'While the City Slept' excerpts: Madness and murder in a broken system". The Seattle Times. Archived from the original on February 7, 2016. Retrieved June 8, 2026.
- ↑ "Eli Sanders". Pulitzer Prize. Archived from the original on June 8, 2026. Retrieved June 8, 2026.
- ↑ "How a Seattle murderer slipped through the cracks of the mental health system". PBS News. April 27, 2016. Archived from the original on June 8, 2026. Retrieved June 8, 2026.