Monday night at 9:41, Butts's brother-in-law found him stabbed to death in the front hallway of the Butts's home at 66 Hemlock Drive in Blackwood, N.J. Butts's wife, Wanda, became concerned when he didn't pick her up from work. So she sent her brother-in-law to the house to check on him.
Butts had been stabbed multiple times. Police believe the intruder entered through a basement window. The house was ransacked and items taken.
Police don't believe this was a random crime. The house had been burglarized back in late May. Police believe there may be a connection.
They are asking neighbors to call police if they see anything out of the ordinary.
Police tell Action News they are looking for "information that may have been, I don't even want to say suspicious, but something unusual," said Gloucester Township Police Chief Harry Earle.
"A car that was at a location that normally is not," he said. "Something that caught their attention that doesn't normally occur, a person in the area. Or even a vehicle that is even located in front of their home right now that normally does not belong. That is the information that we would like to have from our residents."
Police said Wanda and Theotis Butts did take in foster children in recent years. Investigators say that is a direction they are pursuing in the investigation. Although they did not elaborate, police say they do have some solid leads.
They do not think this was a random crime, but they have not yet named any suspects.
