FORT SMITH (KFSM) – A Fort Smith man convicted of killing his pregnant girlfriend was sentenced to life in prison without parole on Wednesday (Dec. 17), officials say.
Douglas D. True was charged with two counts of capital murder after his pregnant girlfriend was found knifed to death, according to court records.
Officers found the body of 22-year-old Briana Butler, along with a sleeping two-year-old, who suffered minor injuries to her face, according to Fort Smith police. The girl was treated at a local hospital for her injuries.
A probable cause affidavit released states True, 21, called 911 to report something bad he had done, although he told dispatchers he couldn’t remember what he did.
An examination of Butler’s body showed she suffered knife lacerations on her throat and torso, along with bruising on her arms and face. The woman was five or six months pregnant at the time, and the unborn baby was dead when crews examined the scene, according to the probable cause affidavit.
True told police during a subsequent interview he was intoxicated and couldn’t remember the incident, the affidavit states. The suspect said he got up in the middle of the night and found Butler’s body in the bathroom, before going back to the couch and passing out, according to the probable cause affidavit.
True said he got up the next morning and went to Lowe’s to buy a tool to cut the cast off of his arm. He later called his mother and told her he did something bad and would never be getting out of prison, court documents state.