Butler, a 44-year-old man who weighed approximately 120 pounds, weighed less than half of Thomas' 300 pounds. Prosecutors say that the murder took place in March 2018, at the couple's own Pennsylvania apartment.
She has agreed to the recommended sentence of 18 to 36 years behind bars. Thomas’ court-appointed lawyer, Mark Del Duca of Pittsburgh, commented, "It’s a good result based upon the facts of the case. I think it's fair for both sides."
Not everyone agrees. Sandra Butler, the victim's sister, feels the sentencing should be harsher. "I feel like she should have 40 or more. She deserved life," Butler stated.
Under a plea agreement, Assistant Erie County District Attorney Jeremy Lightner dropped multiple charges against Thomas, including aggravated assault, reckless endangerment, and possession of the instrument of a crime.
According to an affidavit, Butler's autopsy showed his death was "caused by respiratory insufficiency secondary to blunt force trauma to the neck and thoracic compression, exacerbated by blunt force trauma to the head."
Essentially, he was simultaneously suffocated and crushed to death.
According to reports, Thomas was drunk and looking to smoke some crack when she and Butler began fighting. Thomas then stabbed Butler in the hand and hit him with a table leg, before smothering him with her body.
As police reportedly stated, "Thomas told investigators that she cut Butler in the hand with a folding knife and struck him in the head with a table leg during a confrontation,” then "placed her head on the couch so a portion of her body would be on Butler’s head."
Afterwards, Thomas called 911 herself and admitted over the phone that she had killed her boyfriend. Butler's dead body was on the floor when police arrived.
It's no secret that obesity kills, but this crime has taken things to a new level.
Another symptom of the obesity crisis?
While Butler may have been the victim of someone else's obesity, carrying too much extra weight is typically more risky for the individual than their friends and family. Obesity can lead to enlarged hearts, crushed lungs, strained joints and other health issues.
As a report by the Daily Mail reveals, one 26-year-old woman was prompted to shed the pounds after being suffocated by her own fat.
Melissa Dowell gained 5 stone (70 pounds) while away at college and subsisting on fast food meals three times a day. She graduated university weighing 15 stone (210 pounds), and says she was too embarrassed to leave her house or see old friends that knew her before the weight gain.
Dowell says that one night, while reclining on the sofa, she suddenly couldn't breathe: The extra fat she was carrying had caused her throat to close up, and she was suffocating.
After surviving this frightening incident, the young woman decided to turn things around and lose the weight.
"I was literally suffocating under my own weight. I didn’t want to be fat anymore - it just wasn’t me. I realised then that I had to step up and do something," Dowell says. At that time, she was smoking a pack of cigarettes a day, didn't exercise, and would eat bags of junk food and take out daily.
"The turning point came when I was sitting on the sofa and I just couldn’t breathe because my neck was so fat. I had to sit up straight to breathe again, it was frightening," she said. Now, Dowell runs her own weight loss group to support others.
See more coverage of stories like this at Slender.news.
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