True Crime With Caledonian Kitty

For such a shocking case, I'm surprised at the limited amount of information and pictures available but I will do my best to bring you this story from my research that I have conducted this week. So this case involves the horrific murders of a 37 year old accountant by the name of Phillip Fager (his full name was Melvin Phillip Fager) and his two daughters in Wichita, Kansas back in December (the 31st) 1987. The murders took place at the family home and Mary Fager (wife and mother) had been visiting relatives over the holidays and returned to her family to find the shocking discovery that someone had killed her family. 

Phillip had been shot twice in the back and her daughters were found in the basement hot tub. At first it wasn't clear how nine year old Sherri and 16 year old Kelli had died but it was assumed at first that they had been drowned. Kelli had been found naked with her hands bound with electrical tape. 

It was later determined that the girls had been strangled, some semen had been found at the scene too. Due to the girls bodies being in the water, a lot of evidence had been destroyed. Investigators had a struggle on their hands wondering who could be capable of such a thing. The family car appeared to be missing and Mary had mentioned that a workman had been attending the house to create a sun room but this man had gone missing himself. In amongst all of the horror and confusion a letter arrived addressed to the police by someone claiming to be the serial killer BTK 

At the time the police were still on the hunt for BTK who had still managed to avoid capture at that point but they began to believe there could be a possible connection to him and the Fager murders. BTK (who was later identified as Dennis Rader) had written in the letter that he had not been responsible for the Fager murders but that he did admire the real murderer. When Dennis Rader was eventually brought to justice he confirmed that he did indeed write the letter and again claimed no responsibility for the Fager killings. 

The police quickly turned their attention to the workman who had disappeared and went in search for the family's missing car. Soon enough, both the car and the workman known as William Butterworth were both tracked down. William had taken the Fager's car and claimed that he had been suffering from amnesia for he had no idea why he had the family's car or how he had gotten to that particular location in which he was found. 

Eventually during questioning, William began to piece bits of what had happened previously together, to some extent. According to him, he came over to the Fager's home as usual to work on a sun room and on that day things appeared to be normal. He claimed to have noticed that Kelli had a male friend with her and with the pair coming back and forth it was beginning to disrupt his work so he decided to leave and come back a bit later. 

He then claimed that he later returned and found the deceased bodies of Phillip, Sherri and Kelli. The last thing he claimed that he could remember was running out of the house in a panic and getting into the Fager's car and driving off. 

The police were not buying his story and the more they looked into their investigation the more they believed him to be their suspect. William, who was married with children and had always been well respected and liked in his local community, continued to swear his innocence but he was put on trial. 

The limited evidence that investigators had was presented at the trial and it was there that it was discovered that the semen that had been found in the hot tub did not match William Butterworth. So either he had an accomplice or somebody else was there entirely. It was a difficult case with a usually well admired and hardworking man claiming his innocence but on the other side looking guilty because he had been at the scene and ran off with the family car. The other side is that there were no witnesses, a lack of evidence and the DNA that they did have, did not match William. With everything being looked at the jury decided that William Butterworth was not guilty even though the police believed him to be responsible.

Outside of the courtroom after William was allowed to leave, he spoke to the media with his wife and proclaimed his innocence again. He said that he couldn't wait to put the whole ordeal behind him and for him and his family to be able to move on with their lives. 

Just for the record, the DNA found in the hot tub did not match BTK either, just incase you were wondering. 

So, William Butterworth was a free man and he and his family soon vanished, obviously not planning to hang around incase the cops showed up again (just saying). 

This may be the first time you've heard about this case or you might be familiar with it if you have ever done any research into Dennis Rader (BTK). The fact that there's nowhere else to go with this case is truly heartbreaking, the cops won't even consider looking or wasting police resources as they see it, looking for a non-existent killer when they felt confident that they had their guy. 

So who's DNA was in that hot tub? Could it be that someone else had visited the house that day? A secret boyfriend of Kelli? Could it have simply played out the way that William Butterworth described? And why would someone murder a father and his two daughters? Phillip was an accountant, could he have possibly gotten involved with the wrong people? Or is it all so simple, that William Butterworth was 100% responsible?

It appears we may never know the truth unless William turns up one day and confesses but is that likely to happen? You would think that as a so-called innocent man who was apparently falsely accused, that he would want to stay close to the case and help find the person or persons responsible? Not only to further clear his name in the public eye and in the eyes of the law but to also help Mary who basically had her family taken from her in such a devastating way. 

Could it be that William committed the murders as a first time killer and the trauma wiped out his memory of what he had actually done? Some murderers speak of 'blacking out' during their crimes but half the time you don't know if this is them being genuine or they are just trying to get out of being held responsible for their actions. 

This is certainly a case that divides opinion, will it ever be solved? The case is closed as far as the police is concerned and I fear that we may never see proper justice for the Fager family, your heart really goes out to Mary and I can't imagine how she must have felt all of these years. It's one thing to not know who is responsible for the shocking murders of your loved ones but what about the situation in which the cops believe they had the guy but the guy portrays himself as innocent and declares his innocence to the media and walks out of court free? That must be very difficult to come to terms with. 

I hope wherever Mary is now that she was able somehow to have some sort of positive path in life. And to whoever is responsible, possibly William Butterworth? or some unidentified killer, I hope they have lived every day with that huge burden of what they did and I hope that one day they find it in themselves to come forward and speak the truth, face what they deserve because in the end they will have to answer for their sins at the end of their life or lives (I sound all preachy here but you know what I mean). 

RIP Phillip, Sherri and Kelli.

Further Reading & Sources:

- Encyclopedia of Unsolved Murders | Book by Michael Newton

- The Fager Family Murders: Article | Genealogy Trials

- The Fager Family Murders | Reddit Discussion

- The Fager Family Murders: Article | Wichita Eagle

- BTK - Dennis Rader: Article | True Crime With Caledonian Kitty

- 10 Facts You May Not Know About Serial Killer...Dennis Rader: Article | True Crime With Caledonian Kitty

What are your thoughts on this case? Please leave your comments below or email me in confidence at jocaledoniankitty@gmail.com

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