'Gone home to pack': Wife wanting out of marriage is strangled by husband who then staged scene well enough to fool cops for a while, police say

When a pistillate successful Virginia began packing items successful mentation to permission her husband, helium strangled her to decease and staged the country to look similar a suicide, authorities say.

Ross Butler, 56, was indicted by a expansive assemblage successful Chesterfield, Virginia, connected May 18 connected charges of execution and strangulation successful the decease of his wife, 36-year-old Ashlee Butler, the Flagler County Sheriff's Office successful Florida announced. He was arrested this week successful the Sunshine State aft instrumentality enforcement learned that's wherever helium had been living.

The lawsuit stretches backmost much than 4 years. On Dec. 20, 2021, Ashlee Butler's assemblage was recovered astatine the couple's location connected the 5500 artifact of Alberta Road successful Chesterfield, Virginia, an unincorporated assemblage astir 15 miles southwest of Richmond.

There were "suspicious circumstances" surrounding the death, the Florida sheriff's bureau noted. "Although the decease was reported arsenic a suicide, detectives determined the grounds astatine the country and the victim's injuries were inconsistent with suicide, believing the country had been staged aft she was strangled to death," deputies added.

"Family and witnesses that knew Ashlee came guardant with accusation and concerns regarding the circumstances of her death," a Chesterfield constabulary spokesperson told determination CBS affiliate WTVR. "Police determined that Ashlee had gone location to battalion belongings successful mentation to permission her husband."

"It was past that constabulary judge Ashlee was strangled to death," the serviceman added, noting that determination was a "history of home unit successful the home."

As Virginia instrumentality enforcement investigated Ross Butler, helium requested a fundraiser beryllium made for assistance with "Ashlee's cremation and expenses," according to a GoFundMe that has its donations paused. For years, the fishy lived his beingness — until the indictment was handed down and authorities learned helium was surviving astatine a Florida motel.

On Tuesday, deputies learned helium was admitted to a Florida hospital. When helium was released the pursuing day, helium was apprehended and interviewed.

Authorities accidental helium is jailed successful Flagler County, Florida, without enslaved and is awaiting extradition to Virginia.

"This lawsuit is an fantabulous illustration of teamwork and serves arsenic a informing to fugitives that you can't debar the agelong limb of the law, particularly successful Flagler County," said Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly. "This feline thought helium could get distant with execution and unrecorded the remainder of his beingness astatine the beach. Thanks to practice betwixt our Criminal Intelligence Unit, Fugitive Apprehension Unit, the Chesterfield County Police Department, and the Flagler Beach Police Department, he's hiding retired nary longer and volition soon beryllium headed backmost to Virginia to look justice."