Melvin Boothe looks on as the jury re-enters the courtroom Tuesday afternoon.
LIMA — Testimony continued and several pieces of evidence were shown Tuesday at the trial of a Lima man accused of killing his girlfriend and burying her body in Martin Luther King Park.
Melvin Boothe, 31, is charged with murder, tampering with evidence, gross abuse of a corpse and possessing criminal tools in the death of McKenzie Butler, 25. Butler’s body was found buried in the woods on the south side of the park in Lima after police learned she was missing on June 13, 2020.
Boothe and Butler reportedly lived together on Eighth Street, a short distance from the park.
Police obtained a warrant and searched the Eighth Street residence. Butler was not located, but her belongings were found there.
Other items found inside the residence included muddy boots and shoes, receipts for shovels and a pick and cleaning supplies.
Lima Police Department Patrol Officer Logan Schick testified Tuesday that he spoke with Boothe’s wife, who reported the alleged murder. He said he and some other officers then went to Boothe’s apartment and were let in by the man.
Schick said in one of the rooms he smelled “rotting flesh.”
Lima Police Patrol Officer Corey Blodgett, who also went to the home, said he also spoke with Monica Jackson, Boothe’s wife. He said she told him that she believed her husband had killed Butler.
After arriving at the home, Blodgett said he asked Boothe where Butler was. He said Boothe said she wasn’t there and had left.
In body camera footage from Blodgett, Boothe can be heard telling the officer that he hadn’t spoken to her since May 26 when she left. He said he’d told her to collect her belongings or he would throw them out.
Blodgett said he and other officers found empty bottles of ammonia and bleach in the home.
Lima Police Patrol Officer Darien Gaukin, who also responded to the home, said when he got there, he saw Boothe attempting to leave out a back window. This can also be seen in cruiser dash cam footage.
Once inside, according to Gaukin’s body camera footage, the officer asked Booth what all the bleach was for. Boothe said it was to clean everywhere with COVID-19 going around. No one in the footage appeared to wear face masks.
Gaukin, like Schick, said Butler’s room “smelled like death.”
Lima Police Patrol Officer Brandon Stephenson, the officer who transported Boothe to the police department for questioning, said in one of the bedrooms he found a kitchen knife and a duffel bag containing “grassy shoes.” He said he also saw empty gallon-sized bags of bleach and ammonia, dirty book bags and two suitcases.
Stephenson said when he saw the bleach and ammonia he believed that corroborated Jackson’s statement that Boothe had poured the substances on Butler’s body.
Lima Police Patrol Officer Riley Brubaker testified that he helped with a search at Martin Luther King Park on the morning of June 14, 2020, because he had outdoors experience. He said during his search, he found an island of trees in which several branches were broken and there was freshly overturned earth that appeared to be a burial site.
Brubaker said he reported this to Sergeant Bryce Garman, then established a perimeter around the area.
Garman said he found two shovels covered in mud tucked away from the burial site.
Photos taken of the apartment by Lima Police Identification Officer Greg Adkins depict a messy home, with work boots caked in mud found tucked in foliage outside, muddy Nike sneakers in a bedroom and a significant amount of Butler’s mail. Dirty rubber kitchen gloves were also found on top of a muddy backpack.
Several of the ammonia and bleach bottles found have dirt and leaves or grass on them.
Adkins said upon returning to the home on June 14, 2020, he found parallel lines on the sidewalk that indicated something was dragged there leading to the park. He said at the park, they met other officers who had found a “fresh dig site.”
Adkins said he and several others began digging in the area. The team found an unzipped and empty suitcase with a black plastic bag underneath.
When removed, the black bag was found to contain a body in the fetal position.
Adkins said officers found a piece of a broken shovel handle in the hole, which matched the broken shovel found by Garman.
Adkins said the body was identified as Butler.
Lima Head Park Ranger Randy Kohli said he was called after the body was found and he pulled the photos off of a trail camera at MLK Park.
The photos show a man that could be Boothe approaching some trees with a duffel bag and at least one shovel on June 4, 2020. He can be seen coming out of the trees wearing a green backpack.
Later throughout the night and into the next morning, the man goes in and out of the trees with various items.
Testimony will continue Wednesday morning at 9 a.m.
