It was October 16, 2019 when retired couple James and Michelle Butler,  who had set up their new RV on a remote stretch of the Padre Island, Texas beach shielded by dunes known as “The Bowl” took some photos.

He posted the photos of their RV at the beach on social media, including one of Michelle relaxing in a chair with her toes in the water. Those same photos would later help police locate a horrific crime scene.

James, a retired Naval Air Traffic Controller, met Michelle at a karaoke bar on a visit to his hometown in New Hampshire. They married in 2015, and with all their children grown up and moved out, they realized a shared dream of traveling the country.

Little did they know someone was watching them. It was a Utah couple, Adam Williams and Amanda Noverr, who was trolling the beach in search of a way to get out of the United States.

By the time they hit the road for Texas, 33-year-old Williams had already spent eight years in federal prison, and he was now running from a sexual assault charge. They hoped to make it to Mexico to reinvent themselves with new names, but they needed money and a vehicle.

As the Butlers settled in for a relaxing two-week vacation, Williams and Noverr, under the guise of just stopping by to chat, were actually scoping them out.

When they drove away, Williams told Noverr to meet him back at the RV site later. He laid low and returned under cover of darkness. With a 9-millimeter gun he shot both victims in the head.

When Noverr returned, she helped bury the bodies in a shallow grave in the dunes, then took the Butlers’ RV and pickup truck to make their getaway to the Mexico border.

Prior to the murders, the heavily tattooed Williams had been pulled over by a park ranger in Padre Island National Seashore for not wearing a seatbelt.

Several days without contact from the Butlers,  family members became worried and notified police.

Lt. David Farias of the Kleberg County Sheriff’s Office was on patrol when the missing persons’ call came in, 10 days after the retirees first arrived in the area. Working with the family, Farias used the photos on social media to locate their now-empty campsite and quickly issued a press release. Their bodies were found on October 27.

Family friend Barbara Hanesworth created a Facebook page, “Finding Michelle and James Butler,” that blew up on social media.

As news coverage gained momentum, the U.S. Border Patrol had a massive break in the case: They captured video footage of the vehicles crossing into Mexico and, eventually, an image of Williams driving the Butlers’ truck crossing the U.S.-Mexico border between October 20 and October 21.

The Padre Island Seashore ranger who had previously pulled the couple over and a local business owner both immediately recognized the distinctive-looking Williams from the news reports and approached the police. Williams’ relatives then provided police with the identity of his wife, Noverr.

After the Kleberg Sheriff’s office released the information to the AP Wire in Mexico, they caught a break: The fugitives were spotted in an RV park in Jalisco.

Noverr, sensing the danger she might be in, contacted a longtime friend Dylan Aller, hinting to him that she wanted to leave her husband. When Noverr learned the story was all over the news, she decided to turn herself in, said Aller, who gave the Texas Rangers information about their location in Mexico.

“Apparently they surprised her and Adam at the RV park which ended up being the best outcome anyone could have hoped for,” said Aller.

The FBI retrieved the murder weapon in the RV along with DNA evidence connecting Noverr and Williams to the Butlers’ murder.

In November 2021, Williams plead guilty to the killings as part of a plea bargain to avoid the death penalty. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

In February, 2022 Noverr was sentenced to 20 years in prison, according to Kleberg County District Attorney John Hubert.

“The family deserved closure and that Ms. Noverr answer for her part in the deaths of their loved ones. While she did not ‘pull the trigger’ she facilitated the crime, helped to cover up the crime and profited from it,” Hubert said in a statement. “We also wanted to keep her influence away from her small child. In 15 years the child will be old enough to come to terms with the crimes of her parent on a better basis without having the corrosive influence of Ms. Noverr.”

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IN GOD WE TRUST

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