Barbara Butcher’s career as a medicolegal expert has brought her face-to-face with over 5,500 death scenes. And some, more than others, stand out for their sheer brutality.
She recounts an especially cruel case in a preview for the new episode of Oxygen’s The Death Investigator with Barbara Butcher titled “She Fought Back,” airing Saturday, Nov. 1 at 9/8c p.m.
The victim was 91-year-old Nellie Hocutt. She lived in the Bronx, where the final moments of her life in 2003 were unthinkable. Butcher says it succinctly: “She’s being waterboarded.”
What happened to Nellie Hocutt?
The investigation into the Hocutt homicide revealed more than just how the elderly woman was killed, but what she experienced as her life was cruelly snuffed out.
Butcher explains in the sneak peek that Hocutt was deprived of air—and what happened next as a result of that.
“When someone is being asphyxiated, they begin to have seizures,” Butcher asserts, “and they clamp down even to the point of cutting deeply into their own tongues. That is so painful.”
Autopsy reveals more evidence
In Nellie’s case, the medical examination shows that her agony was worsened because of what her killers did.
“There are an actual laceration and contusion of her tongue,” Butcher observes. “This means that something was forced into her mouth with sufficient force.”
Evidence found in Nellie’s stomach further shocked investigators working the murder case. “In her gastric contents, there’s point six, 6 percent drinking alcohol in her stomach,” says Butcher. “That’s huge. There’s wine, there’s scotch, but more horribly, there’s methanol.”
Methanol is an alcohol that’s used as a solvent, Butcher explains. “When ingested, this causes cramping of the stomach. It’s deep pain.”
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In order to poison Nellie with the mix of alcohol, her killers had to find a way to administer them. As Butcher outlines how they did that, the reality of the horror becomes clear.
“They forced her mouth open and jammed these liquids into her mouth,” says Butcher. “She’s drowning in these fluids.”
In the end, Nellie fought to stay alive. “She can’t take a breath through her nose,” says Butcher. “She can’t swallow fast enough to get air. This is beyond hideous. She’s being waterboarded.”
Who killed Nellie Hocutt so brutally and why? Find out in the “She Fought Back” episode of The Death Investigator with Barbara Butcher, airing Saturday, Nov. 1 at 9/8c p.m. on Oxygen.