
Age 21 · Orange County, California
Crime Year
2008
Offender
Clarence Butterfield
Sentence
Life Without the Possibility of Parole (LWOP)
This victim's offender could become eligible for release under the proposed regulations.
Twenty-one-year-old Rebekah Butterfield was brutally tortured and murdered by her father in a crime that shocked Orange County and left her family devastated. Prosecutors presented evidence that Rebekah endured a prolonged and horrific assault before her death. Rather than report the crime or seek help, her father attempted to conceal what he had done by hiding her body in a freezer inside an RV parked near the family residence.
For weeks, Rebekah's disappearance remained a mystery as family members and investigators searched for answers. The discovery of her body ultimately revealed the horrifying truth and exposed the calculated efforts taken to cover up the murder. The brutality of the crime, combined with the betrayal of trust inherent in a parent murdering his own child, drew widespread public attention and outrage.
Rebekah's murder robbed a young woman of her future and left her loved ones to cope with an unimaginable loss. A jury convicted Clarence Butterfield of first-degree murder, and he was sentenced to Life Without the Possibility of Parole.