An innocent friend request via Facebook has ended in a blood bath, leaving several children orphaned and one man facing murder charges.
On June 17th this year, Wayne Ogden contacted an old school friend he hadn’t spoken to in over 25 years after finding him on the social networking site. The friend, Steven Howarth, promptly responded and the pair rekindled their friendship via messages and postings.
Unfortunately, unbeknownst to Ogeden one of Howarth’s friends on facebook, Dale Butterworth, a former classmate of Ogden’s stumbled upon his profile.
Butterworth, 45, had for some time been holding a grudge against Ogden for a perceived wrong doing committed 25 years previously while the pair were attending Brookdale Comprehensive school in Warrington.
The incident, involving the pulling down of trousers in front of a group of girls, left Butterworth psychology scarred and hell bent on revenge.
After years of inner seething and emotional turmoil including a stint in several mental health facilities, a direct result of the incident, Butterworth could not control his rage, especially after reading the innocuous sounding post made by Ogden “Whatever happened to Dopey Butterworth? Remember that time we got his knob out in front of the girls netball team? LOL”
It was this posting that set the ball in motion for what would result in the murder of father of five, Wayne Ogden.
Police statements show that Butterworth traced Ogden’s address and set an ambush for his former schoolmate one rainy night in July. While no witnesses have yet come forward it is alleged that Butterworth clubbed Ogden to death with a cricket wicket and left his victim in a pool of blood.
Before fleeing the scene police claim that Butterworth pulled down Ogden’s trousers to his ankles thus displaying his penis. A note, found at the scene read “Yeah, who’s laughing now? LOL”
Police traced Butterworth after he posted on Facebook “Your next Howarth! Remember that time you put an egg in the hood of my duffle coat? I am coming for you!”
Butterworth’s wife of 16 years said that her husband had always found it difficult to reconcile his childhood and that bullying had had a profound effect on his life “He could never undress in front of me, nor could he walk past a group of girls without shaking and defecating himself. Grocery shopping was traumatic also, we could never buy eggs and each time he saw an egg he would raise his hands, place them on his head and scream ‘No, please, I am not a stiff, please, this duffle coat is new.”