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Kalebu guilty of murder, rape, burglary in South Park attack

Isaiah Kalebu was found guilty of the murder of Teresa Butz, a woman who died in July 2009 after Kalebu broke into her South Park home, raped her and her partner repeatedly and slashed her to death.
kalebu-verdict

SEATTLE-- Jurors found defendant Isaiah Kalebu guilty Friday of the 2009 murder, assault, and rape of a Seattle woman.

Jurors agreed with prosecutors that in July 2009, Kalebu broke into a South Park home, where he held Teresa Butz and her partner captive and raped them repeatedly.

After hours of torture, Kalebu slashed Butz just before she was able to break free, throwing herself through a window and into the street where she died.

Butz' partner testified during the trial that she and Teresa prayed throughout the attack that they would make it out alive.

Kalebu will receive a mandatory life in prison sentence. Prosecutors did not seek the death penalty against him because of his mental state.

Over the course of a month, the trial has gone through a rollercoaster of antics. Kalebu was initially banned from the courtroom because of profane outbursts. He was rushed to the hospital multiple times, once for swallowing a golf-sized pencil.

Allowed to testify in his own defense, Kalebu was forced to wear a device that would shock him if he became disruptive. Each day he was kept restrained in a chair while entering the courthouse.

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