UT - Jeffery Butler, 35, found dead in his Springville home, 24 Feb 2008

[dee10134]

KatK, that's true, thank God for that otherwise this situation could have turned out worse. I wonder why neither the mother of father smelled the gas? Do people ever not smell it? Would they both have had a bad sense of smell?

I have a horrible sense of smell from years of smoking cigarettes. Smoking pretty much obliterated my sense of smell. I quit on 1/20/2007 and will NEVER touch another cigarette again.

Anyways, I can't smell to save my life. I've left the oven on accidentally and the pilot has gone out and DH smelt the gas right away. Me on the other hand, had NO idea and would probably have blown up the house had he not been there to figure out what the smell was.

Carbon Monoxide (CO) on the other hand is colorless and odorless, so you would have NO idea that it was filling your house unless you had a CO detector.

 

[SuziQ]

Well, I wasn't too clear I see. I mean those houses that are only one storey, but have rooms that you step down into, or up into? (About a foot between "levels".) Could it be one of those? :waitasec:

I get what you are saying now. I don't know then. lol.

 

[SuziQ]

I live in Utah also but have to say that I see plenty of people going about their business on Sunday. Yes in the morning many are going to church, but I also see children playing and if I go to wal-mart always have to wait in line because there are many shoppers. Just today on the morning news they were talking about the percentage of mormons in the state is shrinking, I believe they said 56% now.
Not all the malls and restaurants are open on Sunday but the ones that are, do get business. Of course where I work (jail) we seem to keep a steady customer flow, both mormon and non mormon

VB

True, Utah doesn't shut down on Sundays. (Unfortunately most of my town does.) The majority out and about are either not mormon or sneaking around hoping they don't run into anyone from their ward. Springville is in Utah County aka Happy Valley, IIRC, the highest Mormon concentration in the state. Between that and the weather that day, I doubt the kids were outside playing. And going by the obit, it looks like the family was LDS, so they may have been in church about 3-4 hours that day. Unless they were sick and blew it off.

ETA: I've been trying to find out what times their church would have been. No luck, they are all different and some are on split shifts depending on how crowded the area is.

 

[Vegas Bride]

I know around here there's been a lot of people sick with the flue, I wonder if they would have thought they were coming down with a bug if they didn't smell anything.
How old are the children? Is it possible 1 of them could have unknowingly turned the knob on the stove?

VB

 

[luthersmama]

There was a pet bird in the house too. If it was gas, the bird would have died.

I think the Dad and possibly the whole family was drugged. But who did it? We'll have to wait for the autopsy and further investigation.

 

[SuziQ]

Vegas Bride, you may a good point. The affects could have been confused with having the flu. And there are a ton of people sick aren't there? I was also wondering about Utah Lake. They could have thought the smell was from lake stink. I know I've mistaken the GSL for propane before.

Luthersmama, thanks for the info about the bird. I hadn't heard that before. I think the bird would have gone down first as well.

 

[SuziQ]

Natural gas isn't toxic? You learn something new everyday. So what made Dad die and make his lips/face turn black?

http://www.abc4.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=5df85f15-1a05-41bc-a2ca-b0257828f7f4

(snip)
Questar officials said they found no natural gas leaks at the house and besides, natural gas isn't toxic, it couldn't have poisoned them.

ETA: There's also a mention by family that the five year old turned on the stove.

 

[MeoW333]

The bird info is very very important. Can we confirm if the bird is still alive? The bird would be the first to succumb to the effects of the Carbon Monoxide; it's such a small thing.

 

[SuziQ]

Information about natural gas poisoning symptoms: http://www.healthtouch.com/bin/Econtent_HT/hdShowLfts.asp?lftname=NIDCD005&cid=HTHLTH

I would think the children would have been overcome before the father.
Why would the wife not want LE to search her house?

jmo

Ok, I just went back to the link in RhondaIL's post. I think Questar is full of crap. Why would they make a statement that natural gas isn't toxic? From the above link:

Medical Complications/Symptoms

Exposure to natural gas reduces the blood's ability to carry oxygen. Although there is no fever, the initial symptoms associated with dangerous levels of natural gas exposure are similar to flu-like illnesses. These symptoms include:

• dizziness
• fatigue
• nausea
• headache
• irregular breathing

Exposure at higher levels causes vomiting, loss of consciousness, or can be fatal.

 

[newkid]

http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=2738837

"A neighbor told police that the couple's two young children were outside playing around noon on Sunday and the five-year-old said quote, "My mommy and daddy have been dead for two days," something the neighbor did not take seriously. "

 

[Taximom]

What? The neighbor didn't take that comment seriously??!! Wouldn't you think a normal person would have looked into that a little more?

 

[newkid]

What? The neighbor didn't take that comment seriously??!! Wouldn't you think a normal person would have looked into that a little more?

I don't know. I have a couple of kids around that age and one of their most favorite current games is playing house while pretending that one or both parents are dead. Ugh. I've talked about it with my kids at length because it bothers me and I never remember doing it as a child, but perhaps it helps them cope somehow (in the past couple of years, 3 of my grandparents, my MIL, 1 uncle, and 2 aunts have passed away). But I notice that neighbor kids do it as well so I don't know. If a neighbor kid said that to me, I might ask questions of the child and depending on the response, I would make a mental note to ask my neighbor about it later or investigate further. Depending on the kid though, if it's one I've seen playing the dead parent house game, I don't know if I would take it seriously.

 

[luthersmama]

Very odd. Something is not right in this picture. The article I read indicated that the bird was just fine.

Natural gas isn't "toxic" in the sense that it poisons you. But enough of it displaces all of the oxygen, just like carbon monoxide. You aren't exactly "poisoned", it just suffocates you.

Hang on! I just looked at the link. They were "speedballing" heroin and cocaine!!!!!

Well, that is a different kettle of fish!!!!

 

[MCDRAW]

http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=2738837


According to this article, they are now saying he died of a drug overdose.

 

[Taximom]

Ah, so maybe someone was getting rid of drug evidence while LE was getting the search warrant.

Those poor kids.

Thanks for the updates.

 

[SuziQ]

Unbelievable. And mom trying to pass off the her and the kids were sick, blah blah blah? Her brother blaming his nephew for turning on the stove? Well that's not what killed dad.

 

[Yeah me]

If both parents were doping, then I can see how the kids could think their parents are dead. Geez, can you imagine how often they were probably left to fend for themselves while the parents were out of it? She didn't want to be found out for the druggie she is and tried to cover it up by saying it was gas and was too stupid to figure out the police would investigate a death by a seemingly healthy adult male. Kids suffer the worst by drug addicted parents. So, so sad for them.

 

[mysteriew]

Unbelievable. And mom trying to pass off the her and the kids were sick, blah blah blah? Her brother blaming his nephew for turning on the stove? Well that's not what killed dad.

Not to mention the family perpetuating the story if they knew different. They admitted the wife to the hospital, if the family told the hospital that story they were further endangering her, then the wife would have been getting the wrong treatment and unnecessary testing.

 

[SuziQ]

The viewing is tonight and the funeral is tomorrow. I wonder if Leslie will be there?

 

[newkid]

http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=2890431

Wife now admits they were using cocaine and heroin in the hours before her husbands death.