BELMONT COUNTY The victim in a Thursday murder in Bridgeport has been identified as 37-year-old Amy Butler, according to Times-Reporter news partner WTOV Channel 9 in Steubenville.
BELMONT COUNTY The victim in a Thursday murder in Bridgeport has been identified as 37-year-old Amy Butler, according to Times-Reporter news partner WTOV Channel 9 in Steubenville.
The suspect, 36-year-old Rudolph Galberth, was caught by Ohio State Highway Patrol troopers on Interstate 77 in New Philadelphia shortly after 7 a.m. Thursday. He is being held on a murder charge in the Belmont County Jail, with bail set at $1 million.
Butler was shot and killed in her neighbor's driveway on Driggs Lane in Bridgeport.
Bridgeport Police Chief John Bumba said officers arrived shortly before 5:30 a.m., after neighbors reported hearing five gunshots.
"First officer on scene pulled up and noticed a female lying ... on her back," Bumba said.
Shell casings were discovered nearby and next door.
From there, the search for a suspect began.
Officers with Harrison and Tuscarawas County sheriff’s departments and New Philadelphia police worked with Ohio State Highway Patrol to canvas a nearly 30-square mile area in search of Galberth. Bumba believes this may have been a domestic issue. The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation will investigate.
Neighbors say they were surprised to wake up and see such a heavy police presence.
"At 5:22 this morning, I was laying there in bed," said Mike Bianconi, resident of 34 years. "I live about a block from here, and I heard pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, you know, five shots, and I just thought it might have been gunshots but you know strange,” Brookside “And just never thought anything about it, and I came down to get my morning paper, and I saw all the activity over here.
"It totally surprised me. It's a wonderful community. I grew up and live in and raised my son here. It’s a very quiet neighborhood. Like a lot of neighborhoods are. Our neighborhood isn't more special than anyone else’s, but in our neighborhood, you certainly feel safe and secure. But it certainly seems like something tragic happened here. Very sad."
Twenty-year resident Tracey Bennett says she feels safe in her neighborhood.
“Absolutely,” she said. “You don't see things happen around here very often."
A GoFundMe page has been set up to help with funeral expenses.
A video about the murder, and a photo of Amy Butler, are available online at http://wtov9.com/news/local/heavy-police-presence-driggs-lane-in-bridgeport.