Are two murders from 1975 Austin related or not?

The rise in faceless crimes in the 1970s had APD hoping to tie crimes together like the murders of Phyllis Butto and Martha Read.

In the 1970s, Austin, Texas, doubled in size, cementing its status as a big city. With that came anonymity, new people, and faceless crimes. Like many big cities before them, Austin offered villains ease; they could move through the city, leaving no witnesses, no face.

This left a string of unsolved cases, including two with eerily similar elements.

The murder of Phyllis Butto

On February 10, 1975, John Butto, Bergstrom Air Force Base airman, returned to his apartment with his brother, Michael, for lunch. They discovered John’s wife, Phyllis Butto, 21, dead, wearing only green socks. She had almost a dozen stab wounds to her chest, back, hand, and neck.

Her throat was savagely slashed almost all the way through, and her body mutilated with a knife. Phyllis, an apartment manager, had been left to die. The motive didn’t appear to be robbery or sexual assault, although further investigation determined she was raped.

The Austin Police Department (APD) conducted a door-to-door canvas, but no neighbors reported anything odd. Despite this, APD, within a week of the murder, told the Austin American-Statesman they expected to have a forthcoming arrest.