2009 South Park attacks

On July 19, 2009, Isaiah Kalebu entered the South Park, Seattle home of Teresa Butz, 39, and Jennifer Hopper, 36, through an open bathroom window. Over roughly two hours, he raped and cut both women, telling them he would not harm them if they complied — a statement that proved false. Butz threw a table through a window, broke it, and jumped out onto the street around 3:00 a.m. to seek help. She died on the street, covered in blood. Hopper was hospitalized at Harborview Medical Center and survived.

Butz was originally from St. Louis, Missouri, one of 10 siblings. She studied business at the University of Missouri–St. Louis and moved to Seattle in the 1990s. She and Hopper were in a same-sex relationship and were planning to marry; the couple had scheduled a trip to Barcelona for what would have been Butz's 40th birthday that October.

Kalebu was 23 years old at the time of the attacks and had a documented history of mental illness. He had previously been charged with felony harassment after threatening to kill his mother. A judge released him without bail in August 2008. Six days before the attack on Butz and Hopper, a prosecutor had asked that Kalebu be jailed again because he was a suspect in an arson case, but the judge rejected that request. Kalebu did not know Butz or Hopper before the attack.

Following the attack, police released surveillance footage showing Kalebu committing an unrelated burglary with his dog, in an effort to locate him. A bus driver spotted him with the dog at Magnuson Park and called police. Kalebu was arrested on July 24, 2009, and was linked to the crime through DNA evidence.

He was charged with aggravated murder, attempted murder, rape, and burglary, with bail set at $10 million. His trial was postponed once after he attempted suicide. During proceedings, Kalebu was restrained to a chair, directed profanity at the presiding judge, and made homophobic remarks in court.

On August 12, 2011, Kalebu was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for the aggravated murder of Butz and for the attempted first-degree murder and first-degree rape of Hopper. He was also found guilty of first-degree burglary. He is held at Clallam Bay Corrections Center.

The case received significant media attention. Journalist Eli Sanders won the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing for "The Bravest Woman in Seattle," an account centered on Hopper and the attack. Sanders later wrote a book, While the City Slept, examining Kalebu and the events leading up to the crime.