72-year-old Layton man bound over for trial, charged with attacking wife after eviction notice

LAYTON — A 72-year-old Layton man accused of attempting to kill his wife with a mallet after learning they were going to be evicted was ordered to stand trial Friday.

Brent Gregory Butler is charged with attempted aggravated murder, a first-degree felony.

On Jan. 17, according to a police affidavit, Butler woke up at 5 a.m., made a pot of coffee and rolled cigarettes at the kitchen table. After a slow morning, police say he received a text from his landlord at 8 a.m., informing Butler he would be evicted for not paying a $910 lot fee for January.

The affidavit says that while Butler's wife was sitting at her desk in the bedroom, drinking coffee and working through online bills, Butler told police he was in the kitchen attempting to stab himself with a serrated kitchen knife. Police say that Butler later lifted his shirt to show detectives where he tried to stab himself, but they did not see "any type of scratches, wounds or redness" to substantiate the claim.

After attempting to stab himself, police say "he allegedly felt that it would be beneficial to kill himself and his wife as they were going to be evicted." According to the affidavit, Butler retrieved a mallet from the front porch and walked into the bedroom. The document says he watched his wife at her desk working on the computer and then struck her in the back of the head with the mallet.

She turned around, according to police, and asked Butler why he hit her. Butler sat down on the bed, "immediately felt bad for what he did," and called one of his sons to come to the house, the document says. Police say they found Butler's wife alive with "visible trauma to the right rear side of her head."

Butler will be arraigned in 2nd District Court on Feb. 15.

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