Man convicted of manslaughter gets rider after probation violation

RIGBY – A man who was convicted of killing his 3-month-old infant last year has been sentenced for a probation violation.

Dillon Butikofer, 22, was sentenced on Sept. 6 to a minimum of two years and a maximum of 10 years in prison by District Judge Stevan Thompson.

Thompson then retained jurisdiction, meaning Butikofer will complete a rider treatment program in prison for one year. Once the program is done, Thompson can decide whether or not to send him back to prison for his given sentence, or release him back onto probation.

Butikofer was charged with a probation violation after being caught with a handgun. He is a convicted felon due to a conviction of voluntary manslaughter in 2022, and not allowed to possess firearms because of that.

He initially denied violating his probation, but was found guilty after an evidentiary hearing on Sept. 6.

On April 2, an officer with the Rexburg Police Department reportedly stopped a blue 2018 Kia Ford for making an unsafe lane change and having an expired registration.

When the officer approached the car, he noticed a woman was driving and Butikofer was sitting in the passenger seat.

When the woman opened the glove box to look for her registration card, the officer noticed a “black handgun amongst a stack of papers,” according to court documents.

The officer told the woman to close the glove box for safety reasons, and Butikofer reportedly told the officer the handgun was his dad’s. He then changed his story, and said it was his grandfathers.

The officer asked if anyone was on probation, and Butikofer responded that he was on probation for voluntary manslaughter. Both the woman and Butikofer were asked to step out of the car, and Butikofer was arrested and taken to the Madison County Jail.

Background of manslaughter case

Butikofer was sentenced in 2022 after pleading guilty to voluntary manslaughter after the death of his three-month old infant.

District Judge Stevan Thomson sentenced Butikofer to 90 days in jail as well as 10 years of felony probation with a 180-day discretionary prison sentence.

He received credit for 77 days times served before his sentence, and spent 13 days in county jail after the sentence, before he was placed on probation.

Butikofer was initially arrested in October 2021 after police and EMTs found his three-month old baby unresponsive inside of his home.

The baby was transported from Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center in Idaho Falls to Primary Children’s Hospital, in Salt Lake City, Utah by air ambulance. She died two days later.

Doctors at EIRMC told police the baby was suffering from brain bleeding. They also reported finding a fractured clavicle and a previous brain injury — both injuries were reportedly in the process of healing, showing they were not part of the event that led to the child’s eventual death.

The doctors told officers that the child’s injuries were consistent with child abuse, adding that they may have been caused by the child being shaken or slammed into something.