Nephew's Christmas revelation leads to cold-case killer's prison sentence

EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. (KTVI) – A convicted killer who had escaped his crime for more than a decade learned Thursday that he will likely spend the rest of his life in prison.

It began as a missing persons case in 2013 when Patrenia Butler-Turner disappeared. Nine years later, the nephew of Roger Dale Sutton, 57, walked into the Pontoon Beach Police Department in Illinois to report that he had witnessed his uncle kill the woman, according to a press release from the office of the Madison County State’s Attorney.

Nathan Beyer, who reported the killing in December 2022, said it had been eating at his conscience until he was finally motivated by a touching Christmas commercial to tell police he watched his uncle strangle a woman. According to the release, he also helped to dispose of her body.

"The nephew testified at trial about how he began feeling guilt after seeing television commercials featuring family gatherings during the holidays," according to the release. "He said he drove to the Police Department, parked nearby, prayed for 20 minutes, then went inside."

Afterward, he led police to Butler-Turner’s skeletal remains in a wooded area behind a storage center in Madison County, according to the release.

In October, Sutton was found guilty of first-degree murder and concealment of a homicidal death. He had denied killing Butler-Turner and argued that she died from a drug overdose and that he had hidden her body out of fear.

A jury didn’t buy it. The nephew’s testimony was key.

“I really appreciate him for speaking up, but I also feel on the other hand that I wish I would have seen her, you know, in the casket,” said Carmillya Butler, Butler-Turner’s daughter. “He should have said something a little earlier.”

At sentencing Thursday, Madison County Assistant Prosecutor Lauren Maricle said Butler-Turner was killed over something trivial.

“He killed her for her jewelry, with his bare hands, for the profit from the jewelry and just for the sport of it,” she said.

Sutton quietly apologized for hiding the victim’s body but maintained his innocence of murder. The judge looked at the defendant and told him, “You had 10 years to tell police about the body. You had 10 years to put the family to rest. The victim’s body would still be buried in the woods if your nephew hadn’t come to police.”

Sutton was then remanded to prison after the judge sentenced him to 35 years. He had been charged in February 2023 as he was completing a prison term for an unrelated drug crime.

“After witnessing all that, I really feel he should have gotten more time, the death penalty instead of just 35 'cause I’m still without a mother and I still feel like this wasn’t right,” Butler said.

James Gibson, the victim’s former boyfriend, agreed.

“The circumstances was aggravating, and he should’ve gotten significantly more time than he did,” he said.

“Either way … he’s still going to rot in there,” Butler said.

Butler, who carries a bag bearing a picture of her mom, said her mother is with her every day.

“Within my spirit; everywhere I walk,” she said. “You never can get over something like that. That’s something I’ll never get over.”

Concealment charges are pending against Beyer.