Neighbors fighting over drone turns into murder-for-hire plot, docs show
By Dacia Johnson, Avery Everett
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CLERMONT, Florida (WESH) — A man in the Lake County Jail is accused of plotting to kill his neighbor, and trying to hire a fellow inmate to carry it out.
David Butka, 69, is charged with one count of solicitation to commit murder.
It started on July 22, when the Lake County Sheriff’s Office said Butka was first arrested. Deputies responded to a home in Clermont where a man said Butka was flying a drone over homes, which was “an ongoing civil issue.” Butka then allegedly threw a rock at a victim’s truck.
Another witness told deputies they saw Butka throw a rock at a truck.
An arrest document said deputies found Butka that day “had the intent, opportunity, and the ability to cause harm with the rock striking fear into the victim.”
Then, on Sept. 16, an inmate at the Lake County Jail told a detention supervisor that he had been approached by a fellow inmate, Butka, and asked to commit a murder, LCSO says.
Receipts show Butka had put $300 into the inmate’s account and had given his credit card to the inmate’s wife, docs show.
LCSO said the inmate was able to provide physical evidence, and Butka was charged with one count of solicitation to commit murder.
The intended target was one of Butka’s neighbors, who was a witness in his aforementioned criminal case, docs show.
Butka had been scheduled for court and release on Sept. 17, but was arrested again. Online records show his bond for the new charge was set at $25,000.
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