Inset: Brandon Butchkoski (Boone County Sheriff’s Office). Background: The porch where Brandon Butchkoski allegedly set Donovan Baylis on fire in Columbia, Mo., resulting in his death earlier this year (KMIZ/YouTube).
A Missouri man is facing murder and arson charges for allegedly setting a victim on fire on his own porch, causing severe burns to over 80% of their body, in what police describe as one in a string of incendiary attacks on the same home.
Brandon Butchkoski, aged 47, is accused of inflicting fatal injuries on Donovan Baylis, 31, on the night of June 15 at a residence on the 1500 block of Paris Road in Columbia, according to court records.
Residents of the house have reported at least three arsons, with authorities suspecting Butchkoski’s involvement in all incidents. He allegedly employed backpacks stocked with accelerants, including one with “latex gloves filled with gasoline,” as noted in a probable cause statement.
On that evening, Butchkoski allegedly set Baylis on fire when Baylis stepped out to extinguish a blaze set by Butchkoski that was raging on the porch. According to local ABC affiliate KMIZ, Baylis suffered burns over 80% of his body.
“[Baylis] went outside to put the fire out, and when he stomped on the fire, he was engulfed in flames,” the probable cause statement says.
A fellow resident of the home recounted to police witnessing Baylis engulfed in flames and “immediately began using a garden hose to extinguish the fire,” according to police reports.
“[Baylis] sat on the retaining wall of the porch before he fell over backwards onto the concrete,” the probable cause statement says.
A third person who was at the residence told cops he “heard what he thought was someone ‘jostling something around on the porch,’ like someone was throwing something, and heard a thud,” before Baylis went outside to see what was going on, according to the statement.
“There was a gas can on the railing of the porch,” police allege.
The first resident who went outside said he “saw a wall of fire” and Baylis “was on fire,” according to the probable cause statement. The resident told police that Butchkoski allegedly fled on a “small BMX-style bike with black pegs.” They claimed this was “the third fire that had happened at this location.” The affidavit did not reveal the motive behind the fires.
Butchkoski returned to the home on June 29 and started another fire by throwing a backpack ignited with accelerants on the roof, police say. “Inside the backpack was a cleaner bottle, a drink container, and latex gloves filled with gasoline,” the probable cause statement alleges.
Surveillance video captured Butchkoski carrying the backpack and “throwing the bag up” on the roof, cops say. He was arrested on July 3 and initially charged with arson. Baylis died from his injuries on July 14.
Prosecutors formally charged Butchkoski last week with second-degree murder and first-degree arson. He was behind bars Sunday awaiting his first court date.
The Columbia Missourian reports that Butchkoski is homeless and has had several run-ins with police, including multiple drug arrests and a bust for unlawful possession of a firearm.
