Victims: David Dunlap, Whitney Butler, & their unborn baby
Age at time of murder: 17 & eight months
Crime location: Colorado Springs
Crime date: January 14, 2013
Crimes: Home invasion, burglary, & murder
Weapon: 40-caliber semiautomatic pistol
Murder method: Gunshots
Sentence: Life with parole
Incarceration status: Incarcerated at the Buena Vista Correctional Complex & has a parole hearing in May 2115
Summary
After Whitney and David learned from their home security provider that their burglary alarm had gone off they went to their house to check. There, the recently married couple found January–a nearly-18-year-old with an extensive criminal history, including robberies and assaults on a 71-year-old woman and an attack on a 15-year-old girl. He had recently ran away from a halfway house for troubled youth and was armed with a gun which he had stolen from a nearby home. January fatally shot David, a Fort Carson soldier, in the back of the neck and Whitney in the head. By killing Whitney, he also killed the couple’s unborn child, who was due in six months. January was convicted and sentenced to life with parole.
Details
Details emerge in Colo. soldier, wife slaying
SEPTEMBER 25, 2013
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) – A teenager charged with killing a Fort Carson soldier and his pregnant wife as he burglarized the newlyweds’ Colorado Springs home is trying to get his case moved to juvenile court.
Macyo January, 18, is charged as an adult in the Jan. 14 slayings of Staff Sgt. David Dunlap and his wife, Whitney Butler, who was three months pregnant. An autopsy showed Dunlap, 37, died of a gunshot to the back of the neck. Butler, 35, was shot in the head.
Dunlap was attached to the 4th Combat Aviation Brigade at Fort Carson. He joined the Army in 2003 and served in Iraq in 2007 and 2008.
January’s attorneys told a judge Tuesday they want the case transferred to juvenile court because January was 17 at the time of the slayings, The Gazette of Colorado Springs reported (
http://tinyurl.com/lew3zlb).
January faces multiple counts of first-degree murder. The maximum juvenile sentence is seven years in prison, said Liz McDonough, a spokeswoman for the Colorado Department of Human Services, though judges have ordered young offenders to serve a sentence in juvenile prison and a consecutive sentence in adult prison.
El Paso County District Judge Deborah Grohs was expected to rule on the request later this week.
Police officers testified Tuesday that the couple’s burglar alarm was tripped and their home security provider left voicemail messages for Butler and Dunlap. Dunlap sent a message to his wife that he was going home to check the report, and Butler arrived shortly thereafter, officers testified. Their bodies were found in a front room of the home.
Surveillance footage from a nearby store shows Butler’s car rolling out of the driveway and into the street, apparently occupied by the intruder, who fled after it failed to start.
January was arrested three days later. He is being held without bond at El Paso County jail.
Prosecutors also announced that January has been charged with other burglaries in Colorado Springs, including a case in which an elderly woman was beaten and robbed by an intruder in 2012 _ and beaten and robbed again weeks later.
A 19-year-old Colorado Springs man who tried to hide the murder suspect was sentenced Sept. 3 to three years in a youth corrections program. The man, Jerel Couch, pleaded guilty to accessory to burglary.
Macyo January to be tried as adult for killing pregnant woman
SEPTEMBER 27, 2013 MICHAEL ROBERTS
Macyo January was four months shy of turning eighteen when he allegedly murdered a pregnant woman and her husband during a burglary earlier this year. But a judge has ruled that he’ll be treated as if he’d already celebrated his birthday.
January will be tried as an adult for the crime, which is thought to have concluded an escalating series of crimes, including the beating of an elderly woman. Could the killings have been prevented had the police responded to an alarm? Details below.
A Facebook page “celebrating the life, love and laughter of Whitney Butler and David Dunlap” includes the following photo….
…and some very poignant memories, like this one:
My dearest Whitney Butler — I struggle to find the words. I feel bad I hadn’t seen or talked to you recently, but I was so happy to talk to you when I found out you were going to be married. I wish in retrospect I had found the time and money to come to your wedding, or to visit you more often. VA Beach is only a mere 4 hours away, but life always got in the way. You were one of my closest friends at Hollins and I always think of you when I remember our days there. I know if you were still alive today that we’d pick up right where we left off and laugh like we always did. Regardless of anything, I hope you know how much I loved you and valued our friendship. I miss you friend.
A fundraising campaign in David’s memory, with proceeds going to the American Belgian Malinois Club Charitable Trust — he was a Fort Carson soldier who loved this breed of dog — notes that the couple married on September 22, 2012, meaning they were relative newlyweds when their lives were abruptly taken. What happened? On the morning of January 14, according to the Colorado Springs Gazette, Dunlap and Butler were informed by their security company about a burglar alarm that had been triggered at their home. They headed there separately — and both were killed as they walked in the door.
Evidence presented at the hearing about whether January should be tried as an adult suggests that Dunlap was gunned down first, from behind. Butler arrived shortly thereafter. She appears to have been kneeling over Dunlap’s body when she was shot in the head.
Regarding that alarm: A previous Gazette piece points out that the Colorado Springs Police Department was alerted to it 45 minutes before a neighbor heard gunfire at the home, but officers didn’t respond. Why not? The answer suggested at a February hearing is that the department receives approximately 5,000 such reports about alarms per annum, with a hefty percentage of them turning out to be false alarms.
Which this one most certainly was not.
January was arrested for the crime in short order — and it wasn’t his first time in cuffs. A reported victim of abuse and neglect during his formative years, he’s been in and out of trouble since at least the age of fourteen, and he’s suspected of having been behind perhaps as many as twenty burglaries prior to the slaying of Butler and Dunlap. Moreover, at least a couple of the break-ins were marked by violence, with a 71-year-old woman having been robbed and beaten twice over the span of a few short months. A fifteen-year-old girl home sick from school was also roughed up in a separate incident.
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Oh yeah: In a Department of Youth Corrections questionnaire filled out by January and cited at this week’s hearing, he allegedly wrote that he wouldn’t have a problem committing murder if he “could get away with it.”
That’s a long shot now. January can’t face the death penalty owing to his age, but should he be found guilty of killing Butler and Dunlap, he could be sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. Here’s a larger look at his booking photo.
Macyo January Found Guilty of Killing Pregnant Newlyweds Whitney Butler and David Dunlap
MICHAEL ROBERTS | OCTOBER 1, 2014 | 10:50AM
AA
Macyo January was four months shy of eighteen when he allegedly murdered David Dunlap and Whitney Butler; she’d recently married the Fort Carson soldier and was pregnant.
Prosecutors ultimately decided to try January as an adult for the shocking crime — and now a jury has found him guilty on all counts. Details, additional photos and more below.
See also: Macyo January to be Tried as Adult for Killing Pregnant Woman
As we’ve reported, a Facebook page “celebrating the life, love and laughter of Whitney Butler and David Dunlap” includes the following photo….
…and some very poignant memories, like this one:
My dearest Whitney Butler — I struggle to find the words. I feel bad I hadn’t seen or talked to you recently, but I was so happy to talk to you when I found out you were going to be married. I wish in retrospect I had found the time and money to come to your wedding, or to visit you more often. VA Beach is only a mere 4 hours away, but life always got in the way. You were one of my closest friends at Hollins and I always think of you when I remember our days there. I know if you were still alive today that we’d pick up right where we left off and laugh like we always did. Regardless of anything, I hope you know how much I loved you and valued our friendship. I miss you friend.
A fundraising campaign in David’s memory, with proceeds going to the American Belgian Malinois Club Charitable Trust — he loved this breed of dog — notes that the couple married on September 22, 2012, meaning they were relative newlyweds when their lives were abruptly taken. What happened? On the morning of January 14, 2013, according to the Colorado Springs Gazette, Dunlap and Butler were informed by their security company about a burglar alarm that had been triggered at their home. They headed there separately — and both were killed as they walked in the door.
Evidence presented at a subsequent hearing about whether January should be tried as an adult suggests that Dunlap was gunned down first, from behind. Butler arrived shortly thereafter. She appears to have been kneeling over Dunlap’s body when she was shot in the head.
Regarding that alarm: A previous Gazette piece points out that the Colorado Springs Police Department was alerted to it 45 minutes before a neighbor heard gunfire at the home, but officers didn’t respond. Why not? The answer suggested at a February hearing is that the department receives approximately 5,000 such reports about alarms per annum, with a hefty percentage of them turning out to be false alarms.
Which this one most certainly was not.
January was arrested for the crime in short order — and it wasn’t his first time in cuffs. A reported victim of abuse and neglect during his formative years, he’s been in and out of trouble since at least the age of fourteen, and he’s suspected of having been behind perhaps as many as twenty burglaries prior to the slaying of Butler and Dunlap. Moreover, at least a couple of the break-ins were marked by violence, with a 71-year-old woman having been robbed and beaten twice over the span of a few short months. A fifteen-year-old girl home sick from school was also roughed up in a separate incident.
Oh yeah: In a Department of Youth Corrections questionnaire filled out by January and cited at this week’s hearing, he allegedly wrote that he wouldn’t have a problem committing murder if he “could get away with it.”
n September 2013, prosecutors decided to try January as an adult even though he was seventeen at the time of the crime — and this move doesn’t appear to have speeded up the process. On September 8 of this year, Whitney’s mom posted the following note of the “Celebrating” Facebook page:
Dear Facebook Friends, I try to spread smiles and laughter, but today I must ask for your prayers and support. As many of you know, over 1½ years ago we lost our daughter Whitney Butler, son-in-law David Dunlap, and the daughter they were expecting when they were killed by a burglar who was still in their house when they left work to reset their alarm system. Your compassion has gotten us through to this point. Next weekend, Kevin Butler and I fly out to Colorado Springs for the trial of their alleged killer. This time we are walking into hell with our eyes open. For the next month, our family and David’s is going to need all the good vibrations you can send our way. I thank you for all you’ve given and all that you will continue to give to carry us on.
At trial, KRDO-TV reports that January denied having committed the murder. Instead, his defense team maintained that he had been walking nearby when he saw Butler’s car in the middle of the street and then entered the couple’s home out of curiosity, leaving evidence of his presence behind; prosecutors said his DNA was found on the murder weapon.
January’s attorneys added that after finding the bodies of Dunlap and Butler, “he ran out the back door because he didn’t want people to think he was guilty,” the station reports.
The process was grueling for Butler’s mom. In a September 24 post, she wrote:
And the trial goes on. Yesterday would have been Whitney and David’s second wedding anniversary. Instead of celebrating, we were watching a surveillance video showing Whitney’s car turning up her street and a person of interest running away a few minutes later. We know what happened in those minutes. There are reports of their little dogs hiding under a utility truck in snowy, 15 degree weather after they escaped the house. There are pictures of Whitney’s high heeled shoes in the stolen items.??? Really??? I know we can’t look for logic. We can still prayer for justice. At least 3 more days of testimony to go.
The jury’s deliberation process was considerably shorter. After four hours, they returned with guilty verdicts on all ten counts against January — among them first-degree murder and theft.
Sentencing is scheduled for October 22: January could receive up to life in prison, with parole possible after forty years.
Here’s a look at January’s booking photo, followed by the KRDO report.
Teen gets back-to-back life sentences, possibility of parole in killings of newlyweds
By Jakob Rodgers Oct 22, 2014
Macyo Joelle January’s defining act after escaping a juvenile offenders’ halfway house involved gunning down newlyweds while ransacking their home.
In all likelihood, he will never walk free again.
Calling the case “heartbreaking,” 4th Judicial District Court Judge Deborah Grohs on Wednesday sentenced the teen to back-to-back life sentences with the possibility of parole for the shooting deaths of David Dunlap and his pregnant wife, Whitney Butler.
The consecutive sentences mean he likely will spend at least 80 years behind bars before any shot at parole.
He received maximum sentences for his most serious convictions, including two back-to-back 32-year sentences for burglary, which Grohs said begin after January serves time for murder.
The teen, who was charged as an adult despite being 17 at the time of the killings, got a hug from a public defender after the hearing. He never spoke, and appeared in an orange jail jumpsuit rather than the vest-and-tie suits he wore at his trial.
The question wasn’t whether January, now 19, would get life in prison. Rather, attorneys argued whether Grohs should grant him the possibility of parole after 40 years for each murder conviction.
She did, because law mandates it for defendants who were 17 and younger when committing crimes.
“But the facts of this case otherwise do not call for leniency in any regard,” Grohs said.
Grohs said January threw away many chances to better his life, including running away from a halfway house whose director was renowned for helping troubled youth.
After his escape, January is suspected of returning to the halfway house, breaking in and stealing items from the facility, prosecutor Jeff Lindsey said after the hearing.
An arrest warrant for his escape was active on Jan. 14, 2013 — a day that, Grohs said, January acted like a “seasoned criminal.”
Rather than flee when surprised by David Dunlap during the botched burglary, January shot Dunlap from behind, she said. When Whitney Butler arrived at the house to check on the burglar alarm report, January shot her, too. Then he kept stealing from the house.
“He was just trying to make a profit,” Grohs said. “For what? For a few electronics? … To put more handguns out in our community, in the wrong hands? To use them for future crimes?
“We will never know.”
She implored the community to examine itself amid the “tragic” story of a teen lost to a life of crime.
“When I have a young man who I am sentencing in front of me, I will be thinking of you Mr. January,” Grohs said. “And thinking about what we as a society can do different — what I as a judge can do different when I am sentencing young people.”
Had January been just four months older when he broke into 222 Bassett Drive and killed the newlyweds, prosecutors could have pursued the death penalty, Grohs added. Although he sought a sentence with no possibility of parole, Lindsey said that “to the extent possible, justice was served.”
Public defender Marcus Henson declined to comment after the hearing.
The victims’ relatives, often in tears, had implored Grohs to impose life without parole.
Pounding his hand on a podium after nearly every other word, Jeff Dunlap told Grohs that he only wanted to be an uncle — a joy stolen from him by “a complete monster and sociopath.”
“I don’t care what happens to this kid,” he said. “I didn’t know what hate was until this happened.”
The brothers’ mother, Maryln Dunlap, shared that hate for January — a feeling, she said, coming second only to the pain of knowing she’d never see her son again. How, she asked, could January kill the couple after going through a room being decorated as a nursery?
Glancing at the teen, David Dunlap’s uncle spoke last.
“I can never forgive you, but maybe God will someday,” Richard Riley said.
After the hearing, the family contemplated life beyond the criminal case — one without a grandchild, and without cross-country trips from California and Virginia to relive the killings in an El Paso County courtroom.
“We don’t have to come back here to the courthouse any time soon,” said Marie Butler, Whitney Butler’s mother.
For Kevin Butler, the next step will be a visit to Arlington National Cemetery.
There, his daughter, Whitney Butler, and his son-in-law, David Dunlap, are buried in a single grave.
And there, Kevin Butler said, he’ll “have a little chat.”
