Charles Monroe Butler Jr., born in 1977, was a construction worker from Fayetteville, Alabama. Prior to the murder of Billy Jack Gaither, Butler had no known criminal record. His stepmother stated she had never heard him express homophobic sentiments, suggesting that such attitudes might have been influenced by his association with certain peers. ​

On February 19, 1999, 39-year-old Billy Jack Gaither was lured by Steven Eric Mullins and Charles Monroe Butler Jr. from a bar in Sylacauga, Alabama, to a remote area. There, Gaither was brutally attacked—beaten with an axe handle, his throat slashed, and his body set on fire atop a pile of tires. Both Mullins and Butler confessed to the murder, citing Gaither's sexual orientation as the motive. 

Butler was arrested on March 1, 1999, and confessed to the crime, claiming he couldn't sleep due to guilt. He alleged that Mullins was the primary aggressor and that he participated out of fear. Despite his claims, Butler was convicted of capital murder on August 5, 1999, and sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.