[narrator] a missing persons case
Rattles the southern coast of texas.
We are constantly subjected to hurricanes.
I was like, "hey, guys, there's a really bad storm
Coming your way, are you guys okay?"
And no answer.
They were really concerned
Because they hadn't heard from their parents.
And that they religiously, without fail,
Contact their children every day.
[narrator] the investigation unearths a devastating crime.
Finding two bodies buried in a shallow grave
Is obvious that that's a homicide.
I didn't want this nightmare to be true.
I didn't want this to be a reality.
[narrator] authorities set their sights
On an elusive criminal...
[jaime] our fear was if he travels further into mexico,
We'll never solve this case.
[narrator] and a romance blinded by devotion
And reckless abandon.
She was caught up in how he manipulated her.
She was willing to look past it in the name of love.
They're a couple that did everything together,
And that includes murder.
[music]
[muffled scream, gasp]
[narrator] stretching more than a hundred miles down
The texas coastline,
Padre island has long attracted visitors
With a taste for adventure.
We have some beautiful beaches. The water's warm year round.
You can drive on the beach, you can camp on the beach,
You can have bonfires on the beach.
A lot of people come over here from all over the world.
[narrator] the barrier island's beauty
Is what drew rv-lifestyle coupl james and michelle butler
To the area in the fall of 2019
They're retirees, they're traveling the country,
They're having the time of their lives.
[narrator] but on October 21st,
A powerful storm moves closer t shore in southern texas.
In south texas, you know, on the coast,
We are constantly subjected to hurricanes.
We'll get high tides where people can't get off the beach,
Where the surf comes all the way up to the dunes.
Now and then, people get trapped.
[narrator] two days after the storm makes landfall,
The kleberg county sheriff's office
Receives a call from james and michelle butler's children,
When they realize no one has heard from the couple
In five days.
[crystal] they are a close-knit family,
And so they started keeping tabs.
"have you talked to james? Have you talked to michelle?"
And they started to realize no one had.
I was working patrol when I was assigned this call,
And it came in as a missing persons.
In talking to the family,
They told me that they were really concerned
Because they hadn't heard from their parents since the 15th.
And they religiously, without fail,
Contact their children every day on facetime.
So that was a big concern.
I took that to the office, and I said,
"I think we have a real problem here."
[narrator] authorities question family and friends
To learn more about the missing couple.
A retired naval air traffic control man,
48-year-old james,
Nicknamed "jimbo" by his friends,
Grew up in rumney, new hampshire.
Jimbo, in high school, was the funny guy.
You know how every class has their clown?
Well, he was the clown that surpassed all other clowns.
[barbara] everybody that knew jimbo,
They had to have laughed at one point in time.
That's who he was.
[chris] jimbo joined the navy in 1991,
And he decided he wanted to become
An air traffic controller.
And that's where I first met him.
Naval air station lakehurst, fort dix-mcguire, new jersey.
Air traffic control can be summed up in one sentence:
The safe, expeditious movement of aircraft and personnel.
Jimbo did that in a manner that if you were a pilot
And you heard jimbo's voice,
You knew you were okay.
[narrator] along the way,
James met his first wife and had two children.
Jimbo was a very devoted father.
He loved those children.
[narrator] james would remain a steady fixture
In his children's lives
Long after he and his wife divorced.
Then, in 2010,
He paid a fateful visit to his hometown in new hampshire.
[chris] jimbo and michelle met up in rumney, out at a bar,
Karaoke bar one night, and the rest is history.
[barbara] michelle was from new hampshire, also.
She loved horses.
She was a barrel racer, she loved rodeos.
I think michelle was most happy
When she was around horses and around animals.
She loved that.
[narrator] like james,
Michelle was also divorced with children.
[chris] the first time I met michelle...
She had come down to new jersey,
And we met her at the play that jimbo was at for our daughter.
And she was aunt michelle after that.
To my daughter, to my other two sons.
That's the way it was.
In the early days of the relationship,
They were like two high schoolers at prom.
You know, couldn't give enough lovies,
Couldn't keep their hands off each other.
He would crack stupid jokes,
She would be lovingly embarrassed,
If you will.
It was fun. It was fun to watch them.
[barbara] you could tell right from the start
How much they loved each other.
[narrator] after james's retirement from the navy,
He returned to new hampshire to settle down with michelle.
They found this beautiful home.
It used to be a schoolhouse, and jimbo fell in love with it.
He became a supervisor for the local walmart,
And michelle was a limousine driver.
[narrator] the couple married in 2015.
James's two daughters and michelle's three sons
Made the perfect blended family
[chris] at no point did I ever see jimbo
Do anything but love his children.
The same thing with michelle's children,
Who were not his.
He loved her boys just the same.
[narrator] in 2018,
After the last of their kids moved out,
The butlers did what most peopl only dream of...
They quit their jobs, bought an rv, and hit the road.
[barbara] they truly loved rv'ing.
It was something that they had wanted to do
For a very long time.
[chris] they brought three fur babies,
Their cats, with them,
And that was their life.
And that's what they loved.
The rv life for jimbo and michelle meant freedom.
It meant freedom from the cares of everyday life.
It meant for them to be able to grow together as a couple,
As well as people.
[barbara] they went to a lot of national parks.
They started hiking more. They were outdoors more.
They had less stress.
[narrator] although james had a navy pension,
He and michelle took seasonal work
To help supplement their living expenses on the road.
[chris] they ended up going out to a place called mesa regal.
Jimbo was mr. Handyman,
So he worked their maintenance, and he did a great job at it.
Michelle is awesome with public relations.
After mesa, they went to texas,
And they were gate guards for oil fields.
Jimbo used to joke with me,
Saying it was like air traffic control on the ground.
[narrator] the next stop on the couple's adventure
Was padre island, texas,
Where they set up camp on October 14th, 2019.
[barbara] I saw this facebook post from jimbo.
He took a picture of michelle,
And michelle was sitting in a chair facing the water,
And he said, "I couldn't do this without my beautiful wife."
So, I send them this meme that said...
And I write underneath it, "oh wait.
You're doing just that."
And michelle responded on the 16th and said...
That was the last time anyone actually spoke to them.
[taylor] the 16th is when we see a last facebook post.
Michelle had posted that they had found their home
For the next two weeks.
[narrator] the butlers' family share photos
Of the couple's silver chevrolet truck
And white camper with texas authorities.
[david] the photo that we received first
Is a photo of them at beach marker 262,
Where james is digging a hole with the shovel,
And you see the camper and the truck.
[narrator] authorities know the location as "the bowl".
If you really wanna be alone and,
And enjoy the peace and quiet of the beach
And listen to the waves,
That's the place where people often set up.
It's a recess park where, where the dunes were washed back
Many, many, many years ago over several storms and hurricanes.
Looking out of a plane, the area appears to look like a bowl.
When the high tide comes in or there's a storm,
Water fills that area there.
[narrator] despite the family's initial concerns
About a tropical storm in southern texas,
Local law enforcement know that the brunt of it
Had stayed much farther south of padre island.
We told them the storm didn't really affect us
Or the area we were in.
[chris] there was a lot of anxiety.
The idea that they had not reached out to us troubled me.
[narrator] after speaking with family and friends,
Sheriff's deputies drive out to the campground
In search of the couple.
There was nobody there. Nothing obvious that stood out.
There was no trailer, no truck.
[richard] we were turning up nothing.
We just kept thinking,
"well, maybe they pick up and go somewhere else,
Or maybe they had gone, you know, somewhere,
They just lost contact for a period of time."
[narrator] the butlers' friends and family tell authorities
That james and michelle
Had plans to hit the road for florida
In just a few short weeks.
After texas, they were supposed to go to florida
To manage and run a christmas tree farm.
One of the first things law enforcement did was
Contact the christmas tree farm, just to cover their bases.
We realized that they never arrived there.
[narrator] while authorities issue a bolo
For the butlers' truck and rv,
A multi-agency search gets underway
Across the entire length of padre island.
It was a massive search. Several agencies involved.
The texas rangers, the us coast guard.
It's probably about 77 miles of uncharted land.
There wasn't a bunch of people camping there
At the same location where the butlers were.
Other than people maybe fishing in the, in the approximate area.
And of course, our investigator went and talked to them
And said, "hey, have you seen anything?
You remember seeing these people?
Do you remember seeing this trailer?"
Nobody had seen any signs of them, the vehicle,
Or had any contact with them.
[john] we didn't know where they were.
They just vanished off of the island.
[narrator] coming up.
Authorities uncover disturbing signs of foul play.
[david] there was a lot of debris.
You could tell somebody had covered something up.
[richard] I remember david calling,
And he says, "I'm not getting a good feeling about this."
[david] the odor was there, as well,
That we're so unfortunately familiar with.
[music]
[narrator] authorities in kleberg county, texas
Are searching for married coupl james and michelle butler,
Who were reported missing
Ten days after they arrived on padre island.
[david] so, I asked the sheriff and the command
For a press release.
I said, "I think we need to get this out here
As quick as possible."
[taylor] so, on October 25th,
The kleberg county sheriff's department
Reached out to all of the local tv stations and newspaper
To let them know that a couple from new hampshire
Had gone missing.
It was already becoming a big story
On social media, on facebook.
[barbara] I created a facebook page and called it
"finding michelle and james butler".
And it was just all over the place
With everybody trying to find them.
[jaime] we were receiving,
Oh, hundreds of tips from everywhere.
Tips coming in from people from washington state saying
They had seen 'em there around.
And so, we had to follow up with every lead possible.
[narrator] on October 26th, three days into their search,
Investigators receive an alert from the us border patrol,
More than 200 miles northwest of padre island.
We were putting our feelers out there,
And we got a break in the case.
[david] during the investigation and running license plates,
We discover a photo
From eagle pass border patrol crossing.
Where the vehicles have crossed into mexico
On the 21st of October.
The butlers were driving a silver 2018 chevrolet
3/4-ton four-wheel drive pickup
And pulling a 2000 cedar creek travel trailer.
Had new hampshire registration on it.
When we reviewed the video,
We noted that the vehicle was the exact vehicle
Pictured in the photographs of the butlers.
[narrator] authorities confirm the license plate
Is registered to james butler.
[david] it's a photo of the vehicle,
And you can see the rv, but not the occupants.
I thought, "well, maybe the butlers simply went to mexico."
[david] we go from, "no, this is really serious," to,
"no, maybe they just want to relax.
Maybe they're just going to vacation,
They're off the grid, they don't wanna be bothered."
[crystal] their family just knows they wouldn't just leave.
They would let their family know where they are.
Inside, I was...
Very concerned because this was not
My best friend acting the way he usually did.
But my wife and I and the family,
We stayed positive.
[narrator] investigators next subpoena
The couple's phone records,
Hoping to shed light on their whereabouts
Since they disappeared ten days earlier.
And I got with our dispatch and submitted some affidavits
To run phone pings.
Dispatcher calls me back.
And she tells me that michelle's phone
Had died about 7:12 p.M. On the 16th.
Three miles south of padre island phone tower,
Corpus christi, texas.
James's phone had died 10:30 that morning, same location.
And my heart dropped.
You just get that feeling
Because that's pretty much the location
Where they were camping.
[narrator] on October 27th,
Lieutenant farias drives out to the couple's last known campsit
To organize a more thorough search
For the following day.
I went out there to take photos, get the coordinates.
There's a lot of dunes and sand, and it's really rough terrain.
Looks pretty when you look at it.
But going through it is tough. High grass, weeds.
Then you got your rattlesnakes.
I walk over the first little dune...
It was kind of hard to make out,
But you could tell there was a lot of debris.
Scrap lumber, palm tree leaves, trash...
You could tell somebody had covered something up.
[richard] I remember david calling,
And he says, "hey, look, I've found something down here.
It looks like coyotes have tried to attempt to
Dig something out of the sand,
And I'm not getting a good feeling about this."
I had called the command staff and made all the phone calls.
Said, "secure the scene and send the units."
[jaime] to get to the beach area,
It takes about an hour.
We made it over, and it was already getting dark.
At night, if you go out into the island,
Especially the sand dunes,
There's a lot of wildlife, especially coyotes.
It was an eerie feeling that gave you chills,
Because there were so many eyes.
There were probably about 15 glowing eyes
From the reflection of the flashlight
That were looking down.
[david] we secured the scene, we put lights on the scene
'cause it was already in the evening.
They started to dig.
[richard] I remember david says,
"hey, look, I found something down here.
It looks like an article of clothing."
You could see a portion of, it looked like a rib bone
And a piece of clothing sticking through the sand.
What we were looking at was a tip of a bra.
[david] unfortunately, the odor was there, as well,
That we're so unfortunately familiar with.
And I knew I had a crime scene.
This could be michelle butler.
[music]
[narrator] four days after james and michelle butler
Were reported missing,
An ominous discovery in the dunes near their campsite
Has launched a crime scene investigation.
The next morning, as the sun rises,
Authorities get to work.
Texas ranger ed groves and his team
And the forensic team from
The department of public safety here in texas,
They take the lead on the actual physical crime scene.
This team worked,
I'm talking with a brush and a spoon.
We started removing the sand,
And we discovered that it was a body.
[jaime] it appeared that the body was of a female.
But badly decomposed.
[crystal] and they know this because there,
The undergarment's still attached to it.
[jaime] as they continued the excavation,
We found that there was another body underneath.
[david] the female body is on top,
And the male's body is on the bottom.
Finding two bodies buried in a shallow grave
Is obvious that's a homicide.
You know, so, we,
We know we have a, a very, very serious crime on our hands.
They were both transported to the medical examiner's office
For an autopsy.
[david] I concentrated
With investigators from our department
On sifting through everything around the crime scene.
Sifting through the sand,
Looking for any pieces of evidence
That, that might be in the area.
[narrator] while still processing the scene,
The us border patrol calls detective farias
About the butlers' truck and camper
That crossed into mexico seven days earlier.
[david] the border patrol patrol agent in charge
Advises me he has new information.
And that new information was photos in the vehicles,
Which came from the camera system
Of eagle pass police department.
[taylor] it was kind of grainy,
But you could see a man with short hair,
With tattoos all over his face.
And you could tell there was a woman next to him.
[edward] although we couldn't positively identify
The female in the vehicle,
We could tell that the driver of the vehicle
Was not james or michelle butler.
[jaime] we considered him the person of interest,
And all efforts were now directed in
Trying to identify this person.
[narrator] law enforcement in texas immediately notify
Mexican authorities to be on the lookout.
They also release
The surveillance image to the public.
[taylor] on November 4th,
The kleberg county sheriff's department
Held a press conference for local media...
Saying that a couple had been seen
Crossing the border into mexico.
We don't know their names.
If you can tell by the picture,
It appears that they've got some distinguishing marks to them.
They wanted to make sure that we got these faces on the news.
[narrator] four days later,
Investigators receive the autopsy findings.
Positive identification was made
On both michelle and james butler.
[taylor] they were so badly decomposed
That the way that autopsy examiners
Were able to identify them
Was through their dental records.
We were told that they were shot in the head.
The gun used in the murder was a .9 millimeter.
[chris] in the days following the discovery of the bodies,
My wife and I followed every lead.
And every time we got a phone call or a text message
Or message, whatever, we were just like,
"oh, this is it, this is it.
They're gonna be alive, they're gonna be alive.
They're gonna be alive, they're gonna...
Be alive."
And that's how it went before we heard.
[barbara] November 1st, 2019. One day before jimbo's birthday.
We were told that it was them.
[chris] my wife just looked me in the eye, and she said,
"I'm so sorry."
If it hadn't have been for her telling me...
I would've collapsed.
I didn't want this nightmare to be true.
I didn't want this to be a reality.
[crystal] james and michelle butler
Were friendly people.
They didn't have anyone who wanted to hurt them.
[narrator] three days later, on November 4th,
Authorities in texas get a promising lead.
After the media release
And the photos are out of our suspects,
One of our park rangers recognizes the photos.
[narrator] the park ranger identifies the man in the photo
As 33-year-old adam williams.
[taylor] on October 13th, it turns out
Adam curtis williams was actually pulled over
By a park ranger at
The padre island national seashore
For not wearing his seatbelt.
Turns out he was a wanted felon out of utah,
But that didn't show up in that park ranger's system.
When that park ranger sees the media coverage,
She recognizes adam curtis williams,
And positively ids him to authorities.
[narrator] a business owner in corpus christi, texas
Also comes forward.
We find out that
There is a truck that's been abandoned
In the weber bingo parking lot.
[taylor] the owner had to call a tow truck company
To pick up the truck.
When that tow company picked up the truck,
They found out that it belonged to adam curtis williams.
[narrator] when investigators run a background check,
They discover that adam has a lengthy criminal record.
[edward] adam williams was identified as
Being a resident of logan, utah.
We contacted local authorities in that area.
Adam williams spent much of his life incarcerated,
Both as a juvenile and as an adult.
He had a extensive criminal history
Involving theft, drugs, narcotics.
[taylor] these aren't just little drug charges,
These are intent to distribute.
He has assault charges. He had a rape charge.
Adam curtis williams has been in and out of jail
For pretty much half of his life.
This is a career criminal.
He's a pretty scary guy. He's actually 6'1", 220 pounds.
Very intimidating, physically.
Very tattered up throughout his neck, face, head.
[taylor] we're not talking about "I love you, mom" tattoos,
We're talking about his rap sheet
Written on his body.
There are images of moneybags, curse words,
Marijuana, flames, skulls.
One of the tattoos that stood out was 'bad luck'
Written on his knuckles.
[narrator] after an eight-year stint
In federal prison,
Adam was issued a supervised release
In December of 2018,
And returned to utah.
Investigators must still identify
The woman seen traveling in the passenger seat.
We don't know who the female in the car is.
We don't know exactly what her relationship was with him.
It's hard at this point, early on in the investigation,
To put together a murder warrant.
And really, it's a matter of what we do know.
And the thing we could do at that very minute
Was to charge him with the possession of a stolen vehicle.
[narrator] investigators believe
Adam has been hiding out in mexico
Since the butlers' truck and camper crossed the border
Two weeks earlier...
And they worry that time is running out.
Our fear was if he travels further into mexico,
He's gone, we'll never see him again.
We'll never solve this case.
[narrator] coming up.
Alarming details begin to emerge
As investigators key in on a bad romance
Headed toward disaster.
[richard] he's one of those individuals
That is capable of absolute terror.
It's one of these horribly catastrophic relationships.
It was tied to his ability to use her,
Her ability to use him.
[crystal] they share the love
And a willingness to get away with things unimaginable.
[music]
[narrator] texas investigators are searching for
33-year-old adam williams and an unidentified woman
After surveillance footage placed the couple
Crossing the mexican border two weeks earlier.
We're all putting our, our best ditch effort to figure out
How do we go about looking for this individual.
If we were dealing with someone in mexico,
How do we, how do we find them?
And so, it was at that point we purposely decided to
Leak the information regarding the picture of mr. Williams
On the ap wire,
Which goes into mexico news stations.
[narrator] while investigators wait for tips to come in
Regarding the couple's whereabouts,
They reach out to adam's family in utah.
His family tells authorities
That they haven't heard from adam,
But they identify the woman traveling with him
As 32-year-old amanda noverr.
We were able to identify amanda noverr
As adam williams' wife.
They had met after his release from the federal penitentiary,
And were legally married prior to their movement in texas.
[dylan] amanda, when she was still in elementary school,
Moved from california to utah with her mother and her brother,
And that is when I met her.
She's great personality-wise. Fun to be around.
And she's really sociable. She is a talker.
She can carry on a conversation just effortlessly.
She's a caregiver.
She helped take care of her mother.
Her mother was very ill,
And she, she ended up succumbing to her illness,
And she passed.
But right after she passed,
Amanda started to struggle with substance abuse.
[richard] she's an individual who has had
Her bouts with the law herself,
But not as severe as adam.
She had some domestic violence charges,
And I believe she had some issues with intoxication.
She started dating people that were less than ideal for her.
Really abusive relationships.
Which was really unfortunate,
Because she's such, she was such a caring person.
[taylor] amanda noverr had been
Previously divorced with children,
And was a single mom when she met adam curtis williams,
And this is a guy covered in tattoos.
He doesn't exactly look like the boy next door.
But there must have been something charming
That attracted her to him.
[dylan] they had, like, cute little interactions like that
When they first started dating.
When they started getting more serious,
It seemed like they were trying to do the whole family thing.
So, I thought it was actually going pretty good.
[narrator] those closest to amanda
Quickly realized the ex-con was bad news.
[dylan] me and adam spent a lotta time together,
And he did have some outbursts.
I warned him that he did have a temper.
But she also has a temper. And so, I warned him too.
It kinda came out of the blue that he was being so violent,
And I didn't realize that until the summer of 2019,
When she started telling me he was being so possessive.
It started to get to the point once they moved in, like,
They were around each other constantly.
Their other lifestyle choices, like drugs,
They started staying up for nights at a time, days on end.
She ended up kind of on a downward spiral,
And she did struggle taking care of her kids.
Her first child's grandmother had taken an interest
And helped out with them.
[narrator] despite her family and friends' warnings,
Amanda was hooked on adam.
August 29, 2019,
They ended up getting married here in logan city.
And then they, shortly after, decided to leave.
And I didn't realize that
They were literally running from the law.
[edward] adam was currently wanted
For sexual assaulting a female,
And that was the reason that him and amanda
Made the decision to leave utah.
[dylan] she started calling me a lot
Back and forth from texas
When she could get away from adam,
And this is what alarmed me.
She started showing interest in wanting to leave adam,
But she was scared of what he was gonna do.
[narrator] investigators are increasingly confident that
The woman in the butlers' truck is amanda noverr.
But her family is adamant that amanda isn't capable of murder.
Adam curtis williams, we know had a very lengthy rap sheet,
But when it comes to amanda noverr,
She had, like, a minor assault charge.
So, at this point, we're not sure if she was in on something
Or if she's an innocent victim in all of this.
[narrator] investigators release amanda's name
And image to the news.
Then, ten days into the manhunt
Authorities catch a break
When adam and amanda
Are spotted at an rv park in jalisco, mexico.
Jalisco is a state within the border of mexico
That is along the pacific ocean.
It's literally hundreds of miles from the border of texas.
[david] a gentleman from the rv park recognized them as
Suspects in this double homicide,
And identified the vehicles.
I believe adam was trying to sell the rv to the park owner.
He reached out and contacted law enforcement.
[richard] at that point,
I reach out to several colleagues of mine
At the united states marshall service
Who I've known for years,
And I said, "hey, I need a favor."
And I said, "I know where this individual is,
And I need him captured,
And I don't care what you gotta do to do it.
I don't care how you do it.
I just want him back in our custody."
And he said, "sheriff, I've got a team right now
Standing by in guadalajara.
I'll call you.
Or I'll text you in a couple of hours."
I thought, "okay, something's gonna happen."
[dylan] amanda called me, and I was like,
"you know you're on the news? Like, what, what is going on?"
She finally was like, "what can we do to turn myself in?"
She knew that she was gonna end up dead if we didn't,
But I was like, "I'll help you."
And so, we called the texas rangers.
And I talked to them,
Gave them the location of the rv park they were staying in
And the cell phone that they used to track her location.
And apparently, they surprised her and adam at the rv park.
Which ended up being the best outcome
That we could've hoped for.
Everybody was safe.
[richard] I'm sitting there, and my phone goes off,
And I open it up...
And only thing that I see is the picture of mr. Williams
Handcuffed, laying on the floor of that trailer.
It was an unbelievable feeling.
[narrator] amanda and adam are separately held
At a mexican jail while they await extradition.
[taylor] on the same day that
Adam curtis williams is found in mexico,
He is extradited back to the us and arrives in houston.
We sent an army; well-armed officers,
Deputies, trained jail personnel to bring him back.
And we brought him under heavy security.
We weren't gonna take any chance at all.
[richard] I'm sitting right next to mr. Williams,
And he tells me, he says, "you guys are good.
I was gonna go down to south america,
And you would've never found me there."
[jaime] I have worked undercover,
And I've seen bad guys.
Okay? Eye-to-eye.
But this guy was different.
And that just sent a bad chill down my back.
He's one of those individuals
That I believe capable of absolute terror.
[music]
[narrator] in November 2019,
Authorities in mexico have apprehended
Their two primary suspects
In the murders of james and michelle butler.
Two days after adam curtis williams
Is extradited back to the us,
Amanda noverr is extradited back, as well.
[dylan] I told her once she gets back to the states,
They'll start questioning her.
That she needs to use her 5th amendment rights.
I just wanted her to have a fair shot at it.
She never appeared to be in distress or show, you know,
Like, efforts that she was trying to get away.
[narrator] in an interview room,
Amanda quickly asks for an attorney.
Adam williams also refuses to cooperate.
Adam had really not much to say,
And I think he figured, "you know what?
You guys are gonna have to figure this out.
I'm not gonna give you the keys to the castle."
I'm telling you, there were sleepless nights,
Because I worried every day that this guy is gonna
Kill one of my detention officers any minute.
[john] on January 23rd of 2020,
Both amanda and adam were charged with felony theft
And charged with tampering with evidence
For the burial of the butlers.
From there, we continue to investigate linking
Adam and amanda to the actual murder of the butlers.
We actually contacted the fbi,
And they flew down to guadalajara
And processed the scene for us.
They were able to locate the gun and the ammunition that was,
Was found up in the ceiling of the, of the, of their rv.
[john] the .9-millimeter pistol was determined to be
The murder weapon of both james and michelle.
Going through the forensic evidence,
We were able to determine that at least one of the murders
Occurred in the trailer.
[edward] on a second search warrant
That we executed on that trailer,
We were able to locate bloodstains,
And that gave us dna evidence.
That evidence was sampled and sent for dna analysis,
And was positive for belonging to michelle butler.
[narrator] armed with this new evidence,
Investigators confront the couple again.
While adam remains defiant, amanda breaks down.
[richard] she was a little more cooperative
When the rangers started speaking with her.
I think she was caught up in, in how he manipulated her.
[john] I believe that it's, it's one of
These horribly catastrophic relationships.
Definitely not a healthy relationship.
It was tied to his ability to use her,
And her ability to use him.
[richard] there was a protective sense
That she felt like she had in him,
And I think, you know, she trusted in him.
And she figured, "yeah, I know he's done some things,
But I'm willing to look past it in the name of love."
But not really thinking that he's capable of doing this.
I think that part of her thought that it was a great adventure,
And she loved him,
And then part of her was just desperation.
Together, they are a bad combination.
[john] I do think that they thought
They could get away at least,
And start a new life doing the same things
They'd done before, but under new names.
And I think that was a motive to coming down to texas.
[narrator] amanda tells investigators that
In mid-September,
She and adam arrived in south texas
And acquired the murder weapon.
[richard] there is a gun show
That's happening in corpus christi.
Adam, he cannot get a gun.
He knows this.
He knows that there's no way
That they're gonna sell him a gun if they do a check.
And so, he asks amanda to purchase the weapon for him.
I don't think he divulges to her,
And maybe he doesn't even know it himself,
The ultimate purpose for it.
But just the fact that he wants a gun.
[narrator] amanda says she and adam set up camp
On a remote section of padre island.
It was there they met another couple on October 16th.
[edward] they were desperate for a way to continue their travels
To get into mexico.
I think at that point,
The butlers had established a campsite near them,
And he decided that that would be an easy way
To get a new vehicle.
"you know, they've got a nice trailer.
They've got a nice truck.
You know, wouldn't it be nice if we take that
And go on about our deal?"
Adam has just decided to steal the butlers' property,
And in doing so, he decides to execute him and murder him.
Amanda is playing along, or going along with
Whatever adam tells her,
And again, is part of this plan.
She was told or instructed by adam
To drive him down to the beach and drop him off.
Drive down, you know, a mile or two,
And then come back.
[narrator] authorities believe that's when adam made
His way back to the butlers' campground
Under the cover of darkness.
[crystal] if you can imagine it being midnight
Or the middle of the night,
Pitch dark, campfire,
Really no one around but your closest camp neighbor.
Not a lot of people may be able to hear you scream
Or hear a gunshot go off.
What I think happened is adam williams came over
To the butlers' trailer late at night.
And adam shot james and killed him.
Michelle butler was there by herself.
As she opened the door, he shot her.
Adam williams and amanda noverr
Then buried the bodies in a clandestine grave
In the sand dunes.
[david] she was an accomplice. She was involved.
Not necessarily the murderer of the two,
But in disposing and burying the two bodies.
It was such a senseless crime.
They were killed for their truck and camper.
No other reason.
[narrator] on October 22nd, 2020,
A texas grand jury returns murder indictments
Against adam and amanda.
In texas, capital murder is punishable by
Life in prison or death.
I guess adam finally decides, "you know what, I'm done.
You know, there's no way, there's no way outta this."
[david] both suspects adam williams and amanda noverr,
They decide not to go to trial.
[narrator] on November 10th, 2021,
Adam williams pleads guilty
And is sentenced to life without parole.
[taylor] there is a feeling of relief to know that this person
Will never be able to hurt someone again
Outside of prison walls.
[david] adam williams was an, an extremely cold person.
No remorse, no stress,
And extremely evil, in my opinion.
[richard] he's convicted,
And I literally picked up the phone,
And I call the governor's office and the texas bureau of prisons.
And I'm telling 'em, "you have got to facilitate
Getting this man out of kleberg county.
He is going to kill somebody else.
It's gonna happen."
Within a few days of that conviction,
We managed to get him out of kleberg county.
[taylor] in February of 2022,
Amanda noverr is sentenced to 20 years in prison.
We learn then that she is not the one that pulled the trigger,
But that she facilitated these murders
And tried covering them up.
[richard] she's tied up in adam's web.
You know, there is no part of her that doesn't have
Intimate knowledge of the crime.
And she's, she's just as guilty as he is.
[crystal] they're a couple that did everything together,
And that includes murder.
They share a love that I think no one wants to relate to.
A pact that I can't imagine...
A willingness to take and to steal
And to get away with things unimaginable.
And it's just a sad story.
Maybe if they didn't flee utah,
They wouldn't have been on our corpus christi beaches.
It could've been prevented.
[narrator] for family and friends
Of james and michelle butler,
The convictions can never replace what they lost.
The death of james and michelle butler
Was an anomaly that will never have answers.
It will always be plagued by a thousand questions.
I want jimbo and michelle to be remembered
For the love they had for each other.
For the love they had for their family and their friends,
And everyone they meet along the way.
[chris] they shared that love.
They shared that laughter.
And they shared their life with family, friends,
People they didn't even know.
[music]