Police are still searching for “Butch” Knight, with alleged sightings coming in from across the country. Watch part 2 of Andrea Isom’s investigation here.

Posted by Crime Watch Daily on Tuesday, September 29, 2015

FARMINGTON — The television show “Crime Watch Daily” aired an episode Tuesday highlighting an investigation into the murder of former Turner resident Sara Porter-Knight, 48, in Michigan in January, including the call to 911 that, police say, her husband Harold “Butch” Knight made.

“I strangled her,” Knight said in the call, according to a “Crime Watch Daily” clip on its Facebook page. “She is dead and she is laying on the living room floor. You need to get law enforcement out there to do whatever they do with dead bodies.” 

Knight is wanted on a Michigan murder warrant, and the show’s producers hope the episode will prompt people to call in tips to police.

According to the show’s reporter, Andrea Isom, police from the Allegan County Sheriff’s Office responded to the couple’s Fennville, Mich., home on Jan. 13 and found Porter-Knight’s body lying on the floor under a sheet in the living room. A “phone book” was next to her with family members’ names in it. Porter-Knight had died of strangulation, according to police on the show.

Knight, who turned 67 on July 11, was said to be armed and dangerous. He told a dispatcher he planned to flee the country.

Advertisement

Knight and his wife had been married 13 years and had lived in Turner prior to their move to Michigan.

He was sighted in Franklin County in January, where he abandoned his wife’s Subaru Forester in the parking lot of Wal-Mart in Farmington. Local police officer Justin Blais investigated the abandoned vehicle when it was discovered Jan. 31.

Knight’s image was captured on the store’s surveillance camera, and according to investigators in Michigan, he was wearing what appeared to be a one-piece snowmobile-type suit and a camouflage hat.

Knight had dyed his hair and mustache a dark color, according to Steve Hetherington, a task force supervisor at the U.S. Marshals Service in Grand Rapids, Mich., in February.

Knight stayed at the Town and Lake Motel in Rangeley from Jan. 15 to 19, according to Hetherington.

Hetherington said Wednesday he did not know of any solid tips or recent sightings, but it has only been a day since the show’s airing. Tips have been going to the Allegan County Sheriff’s Office since the episode aired, he said.

Advertisement

A lieutenant with the Franklin County Sheriff’s Department said Wednesday local police knew of no new developments in the area.

We have not had any kind of update since last spring,” Lt. David Rackliffe said.

According to the “Crime Watch Daily” investigation, police said Knight had emptied his bank account the day after the murder. He also had gone to a firing range in Michigan where he bought a gun and ammunition.

Capt. Mike Larsen of the Allegan County Sheriff’s Office was not immediately available for comment Wednesday.

dperry@sunmediagroup.net


Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.