Hunter pleads innocent to murder

Eureka Springs man says he feared for his life before firing

Christopher Butler
Christopher Butler

A hog hunter accused of fatally shooting a man in rural Carroll County pleaded innocent to first-degree murder charges on Monday in Carroll County Circuit Court in Berryville.

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Christopher Kevin Butler, 43, told police he shot John Catlin Keck, 30, in self-defense.

Butler said he thought Keck had pointed a gun in his direction so Butler "popped off a couple of rounds," hitting Keck at least once.

"I felt like if I didn't pull the trigger I was going to die," Butler told police.

An affidavit from Carroll County sheriff's investigators says that Butler planted a P90 Ruger .45-caliber pistol near Keck after shooting him.

Both men lived in Eureka Springs. Butler told police that he didn't know Keck.

The shooting occurred the night of Feb. 19 when Butler discovered that somebody was "trespassing" on his hunting territory in rural Carroll County.

Butler blocked a "wallow road" with his Jeep and hid in the bushes with an AR-15-style rifle until a Dodge Dakota pickup approached, according to an affidavit of probable cause filed in Carroll County Circuit Court.

When Keck got out of the pickup and got into Butler's Jeep to move it, the two men exchanged words before Butler fired three shots, according to the affidavit.

Butler didn't own the property but had permission to hunt there, said Maj. George Frye, a spokesman for the sheriff's office.

Butler is being held in the Carroll County jail in Berryville with bail set at $300,000. His next court date is May 9 in Eureka Springs, said Tony Rogers, the Carroll County prosecutor.

Metro on 04/05/2016

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