No Plea Bargain in Slaying of Gay

A construction worker accused of killing a gay man over an unwanted sexual advance rejected a plea bargain in a Rockford, Ala., court, refusing to plead guilty in exchange for a guarantee he wouldn’t get the death penalty. Charles M. Butler is one of two men charged in the Feb. 19 slaying of Billy Jack Gaither, 39, who was beaten with an ax handle and burned atop a pile of kerosene-soaked tires. Circuit Judge John Rochester said at the start of Butler’s trial that prosecutors had offered to recommend a sentence of life without parole if Butler would plead guilty to murder. The judge warned Butler that his refusal meant the prosecution would seek his execution if he were convicted. Butler, 21, nodded that he understood.