Vilma Artis Butler, 46, was found dead in her Bowie, Maryland, home in June 2008. Investigators determined she had been fatally shot and that her residence was set on fire, apparently to conceal the crime. The discovery left her family and community reeling.

The investigation later focused on a suspect named Jason Thomas Scott, who was linked by authorities to a series of violent crimes in Prince George’s County, including other homicides. Scott was tied to the killings of two mother-daughter pairs, Karen and Karissa Lofton and Delores and Ebony Dewitt, and was considered a suspect in Butler’s death.

Scott was arrested and faced numerous charges. Prosecutors later reached a plea agreement; Scott entered an Alford plea in the Dewitt murders, and charges in Butler’s case and the Lofton murders were subsequently dropped. The plea produced a long prison sentence for crimes he was convicted of, but Butler’s case did not result in a specific conviction. Does anyone have information about Vilma’s life in Bowie or details that could shed light on what happened that June?