Davey Mato Butorac
North Fraser Pretrial Center
1451 Kingsway Avenue
Port Coquitlam
British Columbia V3C 1S2
Canada
Davey Mato Butorac

Matthew Claxton, The Times
Published: Friday, September 26, 2008
A third murder charge will be laid soon against accused killer Davey Mato Butorac, a Crown lawyer said in court this week.
Butorac, an Aldergrove resident, appeared in Surrey Provincial Court Thursday morning, as part of his pre-trial conference. He is currently facing two charges of second-degree murder, accused in the deaths of Sheryl Lynn Koroll, 50, and Gwendolyn Jo Lawton, 46, of Abbotsford. Crown counsel Matt Stacey said a new third charge of second-degree murder is anticipated soon. Because the charge has not yet been laid, no one at the Crown counsel’s office nor members of the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team could confirm the identity of the third suspected victim.
However, IHIT spokesperson Cpl. Dale Carr did confirm that the police finished an investigation linked to Butorac recently. The Mounties have forwarded all their information to Crown and recommended charges be approved, Carr said. During the summer, IHIT was openly investigating whether Butorac was linked to the death of Aldergrove’s Margaret Redford.
Redford’s body was found in May 2006 in Bertrand Creek, less than a kilometre from Butorac’s home.
By July, police had taken DNA samples from Butorac and were checking them against evidence from the 48-year-old woman’s slaying.
“We’re looking to establish a link between him and the Redford homicide,” Carr said at the time.
The police were also looking into other unsolved murders to see if there were further links to their suspect. Carr said unsolved murder cases are routinely reviewed as new evidence comes to light.
However, no further charges are expected, he said.
“At this time, I’m not aware of any more investigations [linked to Butorac],” Carr said. Butorac appeared only briefly in the courtroom, his head shaved down to stubble and wearing orange prison garb. He has remained in custody ever since his arrest in early January. He was 29 at the time. He will be back in court on Oct. 27 to begin a preliminary hearing. Prominent Vancouver defence lawyer Richard Fowler is representing Butorac. He said his office has been waiting too long for the police and Crown to turn over evidence he needs before a trial can begin.
“Disclosure in this case has been nothing short of appalling,” Fowler said. “I don’t know why.”
Shortly after his arrest, Butorac contacted the Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP to protest police interrogation tactics. Before his arrest on murder charges, Butorac’s criminal history was limited to property crimes. Both of Butorac’s alleged victims were working as prostitutes and were known to have drug problems before their deaths.
Lawton’s body was found on March 13, 2007 by the side of a gravel road in northwest Abbotsford. Koroll’s body was found in the Rempel Bros. Concrete parking lot on Mufford Crescent on July 7, 2007.