Lawrence Alexander Butler pleads to drug, theft, driving offences
A man acquitted of killing his roommate in Whittington two decades ago has faced court after being charged with drug and driving offences.
A man who was found not guilty of killing his roommate more than a decade ago has fronted court after being caught with drugs.
Lawrence Alexander Butler, 61, fronted the Geelong Magistrates Court on Thursday and pleaded guilty to 15 charges, including possessing drugs including ice and cannabis, drug-driving, handling stolen goods, driving while disqualified, failing to produce licence, forging registration plates, theft, and failing to answer bail.
With his plea, six other charges were withdrawn.
On Monday, magistrate John Lesser convicted Butler and placed him on a 12-month community corrections order (CCO).
The most serious incident came on June 8 this year, when police intercepted Butler driving with ice in his system on Zinnia St in Norlane, in a car with fraudulent homemade licence plates made of a “tinlike material”.
When asked, Butler “refused to state his name correctly” before police found 268g of cannabis and 13g of ice inside the car.
Butler was also found with drugs on March 29 this year, after a woman called triple-0 to report a “suspicious loiter” near her business in Moolap.
Police found Butler and searched his bag, which contained small amounts of ice, cannabis and Valium tablets.
In May, a report of a suspicious vehicle brought police to Geelong Showgrounds, where Butler was found unconcious in the driver’s seat of his car near the public toilets, with three Viagra pills in his shirt pocket.
Butler’s lawyer, Matilda Jones, told the court that Butler had an issue with drugs and was battling homelessness at the time of the offending.
The court heard Butler had spent several years in custody due to a “quite significant matter”.
Butler was charged over the suspicious disappearance of 27-year-old Trevor Tascas from Whittington in 2005.
In 2009, he was convicted of murdering Mr Tascas and sentenced to 23 years jail, before that conviction was quashed on appeal in 2011.
Butler faced another trial, this time on a charge of manslaughter, and was found not guilty by a jury in 2013.
Ms Jones said this was a “significant life event” and the “catalyst for his increased drug use”.
Butler had developed depression and anxiety in custody, had no supports upon release and made the choice to keep his children “at arm’s length”.
“(As a result) he navigated that period of life by himself,” Ms Jones said.
The court heard it was accepted the ice and cannabis was for personal use, despite the large amounts.
“This is a man who has had a significant drug addiction... (he) isn’t a man who necessarily purchases in small quantities,” Ms Jones said.
Mr Lesser had Butler assessed for a CCO, stating he thought it was “quite a good idea” and on Monday, the court heard Corrections Victoria had provided a “positive” report.
Mr Lesser said he hoped Butler would “embrace it (the order), get on with it and get it done”.
Butler was also banned from driving for 15 months.
In 2020, a Coroner ruled that Mr Tascas was dead and “on the balance of probabilities” was killed at the home he shared with Butler, but found he cause of his death was “unascertained”.
The case remains unsolved and in 2022 Victoria Police announced a $1m reward for information leading to the apprehension and conviction of those responsible for his death.
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Originally published as Lawrence Alexander Butler pleads to drug, theft, driving offences
