The Legend of The Brandermill Butcher
If you spend enough time around any late-night cul-de-sac fire pit, you're bound to hear tales of the Brandermill Butcher. While we don't know much about his origins or whereabouts, we do know that he's one of the most infamous characters in Brandermill folklore. Legend has it that the Butcher claims his victims on Halloween night, often going quiet for years at a time before striking again.
His first known killing took place in 1979, shortly after Brandermill was founded. The killing was widely reported due to the peculiar state of the victim: he was found with a HOA non-compliance notice pinned to his chest with a cleaver. The notice outlined various items on the victim's property that failed to comply with the Brandermill Community Association covenants, including an illegally parked trailer, a non-compliant mailbox, and mildew that had accumulated on the victim's roof. In 1983, a similar murder took place. Again, a blood-spattered non-compliance letter was found at the scene. It wasn't until the Slothby Family murder of 1992 that detectives officially established a link among the various cases. At that time, it became clear to investigators that the killer was targeting the worst offenders of the Brandermill Community Association covenants.
Various theories have been proposed over the years, though most have been debunked. One such theory was that a vigilante Brandmermill compliance officer had grown weary of responding to HOA violations and finally snapped under the pressure. Another theory proposed that a bitter Woodlake resident was responsible for the killings in an effort to decrease property values in Brandermill. In what is likely the most bizarre theory, a group of conspiracy theorists proposed that the Brandermill Community Association was itself responsible. The group printed bumper stickers with the BCA logo and the phrase “I am the Brandermill Butcher.”
The last reported sighting of the Butcher occurred on Halloween in 2010. Well after midnight, two young residents were walking home from a party. There was a full moon, and most residents had retired for the evening. The wife heard the sound first, which she later described as a large blade scraping the asphalt. The sound grew closer and closer. The couple turned to see a figure in the distance, the moonlight casting its long shadow down the length of Quail Hill Drive. They turned and sprinted towards their house, reaching the front door just before their pursuer. When the police arrived, they found a non-compliance letter pinned to the door with the words "screen your HVAC unit or else" scrawled in red ink.
It's been over a decade since there was any sign of the Butcher, and many believe that he has either died or is too old to carry out any more killings. However, we know that he's gone silent before. Who's to say he won't strike again?
Happy Halloween, Brandermill.