Paraplegic Seized in ’74 Killing of Woman

A severely brain-damaged paraplegic was arrested Monday and charged with fatally stabbing a woman who lived with him 14 years ago and burying her in a concrete tomb behind his Venice home, police said.

Hercules Butler, who has been a paraplegic since falling on his head after being thrown from a third-story window during an argument several years ago, was arrested at a convalescent home at 6520 West Boulevard. He is being held in lieu of $100,000 bail.

Butler, 56, is suspected of killing Adrienne Piriano, 30, and entombing her corpse in concrete behind his bungalow in the 900 block of Nowita Place in 1974, police said.

Lt. Ross Moen, who headed the investigation, said Butler was always a prime suspect. But Butler’s condition was such that police were unable to act on their suspicions until recently.

“The detectives were able to interview enough people to put enough information together for the district attorney’s office to file one count of first-degree murder,” Moen said. “We felt that we didn’t have enough until (investigators) spoke to the people who pointed the finger.”

Noting that Piriano was found buried in concrete, the lieutenant said investigators located a former neighbor who said he remembered Butler doing concrete work in the yard around the time of the murder.

Moen said another witness who had lived with Butler recalled the suspect saying in a discussion, “If you don’t quit arguing with me, I’ll bury you in the back yard with Adrienne.”

Moen said he does not know if Butler is in any shape to stand trial.

“His mental condition is a matter for the courts to resolve,” the lieutenant said. “That will be a separate issue entirely.”

Moen said Butler knows why he was arrested and “understands what’s going on around him.”

“He does have some brain damage, some mental problems. But you can talk to him. I think we have a solid case,” he said.

The dead woman’s bones were discovered in December by a contractor who was strengthening the foundation on the house, which has new owners.

Detectives and coroner’s investigators spent two days in the yard on their hands and knees, pushing aside dirt with spoons and paint brushes as they painstakingly sought bone fragments. They discovered that cement had hardened into an impression of much of the victim, including some of her fingerprints.