David Butka is accused of offering to pay a fellow inmate to kill his neighbor just one day before he was set to be released from custody
Credit: Lake County Sheriff’s Office
NEED TO KNOW
- David Butka, 69, allegedly tried to hire a fellow inmate to kill his neighbor over a July 2026 dispute involving a drone
- Butka reportedly offered $5,000 upfront and shared the victim’s personal details, including address and schedule
- He was already in custody after pleading no contest to a charge of aggravated assault when the alleged murder-for-hire plot was uncovered, officials said on Monday, Sept. 21
A Florida man is accused of trying to arrange a murder-for-hire plot to have his neighbor killed following a drone dispute.
David Butka, 69, was charged with one count of solicitation to commit murder, Sergeant James Vachon, a public information officer for the Lake County Sheriff’s Office confirmed to PEOPLE on Monday, Sept. 21.
According to a probable cause affidavit and online records viewed by PEOPLE, Butka was in custody after pleading no contest to a charge of aggravated assault stemming from a July 22 incident and was scheduled to be released on Sept. 17 when a fellow inmate reported him to a jail supervisor on Sept. 16 for the alleged murder-for-hire plot.
During the July incident, a witness, whose identity was redacted from the police affidavit, told authorities that there was an ongoing civil dispute regarding Butka flying a drone over their property.
The victim was leaving their home when they “noticed the drone stopped above his house and pulled out his phone to record the ongoing civil issue involving the drone,” per the affidavit.
That person claimed they watched Butka “aggressively throw” a rock at their vehicle, leaving “marks and dents all over” it. As a result, Butka was taken into custody.
On or about Sept. 7 or 8, while Butka was in custody on the aggravated assault charge, he approached another inmate and “solicited him to kill his neighbor,” a Lake County Sheriff’s Office affidavit alleges.
Butka is accused of telling the inmate that he had “approximately $1.3 million in the bank and would give him $5,000 up front to kill” his neighbor. Police say he provided the intended victim’s personal address and telephone number, as well as their first name, a physical description, morning schedule, and instructions on how to locate their residence.
The 69-year-old gave the inmate his credit card information, and the inmate gave it to his wife, who put $300 in his commissary account, police allege.
The inmate took detailed notes regarding his conversation, and “had written the information regarding the plot on a piece of paper and provided a handwritten note containing the information regarding the plot” to a Lake County Sheriff’s Office official on Sept. 16.
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Butka denied the allegations, claiming that the money was to help the inmate retain an attorney.
Authorities said Butka and the inmate did not know each other prior to being in custody at the same time.
“Still not real clear on why he felt the need to have this witness murdered other than, possibly, just anger and revenge,” Vachon told WESH on Sept. 18, noting that Butka was already scheduled to be released from jail before the alleged solicitation.
Butka’s bond for the new charge was set at $25,000. It is not clear whether he has an attorney.
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