A kidnapper strapped dynamite to my daughter, 7, and gave me 10 minutes to say goodbye... now he will walk free
By Alyssa Guzman
Daily Mail
Dec 21, 2024
Michelle Renee and her daughter Breea were curled up on the couch on November 21, 2000, when Christopher Butler and two other men broke into their home and held their hostage until morning, where they force Renee to rob the bank she worked at
A California mother and daughter were curled up on the couch when three masked men burst into their home, threatened them at gunpoint and strapped fake dynamite to their bodies.
Michelle Renee had been employed as a Bank of America branch manager in Vista on November 21, 2000, when the attackers held the mother-daughter duo and their roommate hostage overnight.
Kidnapper Christopher Butler and his two accomplices - Christopher Huggins and Robert Ortiz - duct-taped the three victims' hands and feet, leading the little girl to ask: '[Are you] going to kill my mommy?'
Over the next 14 hours, Renee would be forced to rob the bank, shoving $360,000 into a duffle bag and escaping with Butler in her own red Jeep - all while believing dynamite had been strapped to her and her daughter.
Now, two decades on, despite Renee's furious protestations, Butler has been granted his freedom.
The convict appeared before a parole board for the third time on Friday and convinced them to release him after spending 24 years behind bars for robbery and kidnapping.
The decision bought Renee and her daughter, now 31, to tears. The mother had been looking for deep remorse in Butler over the year and insisted she has not found any. Only recently did he admit to lying about the notion that Renee had helped plan the robbery.
'It hasn't been 20-some years of him doing that deep work,' Renee said. 'It's all of a sudden. I appreciate it's happening. It's not about getting out, it's about getting it right. It has only just begun.
Butler and his co-conspirators strapped fake dynamite to the mother, her daughter, and their roommate and told them they would detonate the device if Renee didn't follow the plan
Butler appeared before a parole board for a third time on Friday after spending 24 years behind bars and granted parole. Despite the more than two decades that have passed, Renee and her daughter Breea are not ready to allow their captor to be free.
'It doesn't take four to six months to fix what caused him to do this.'
For his part, Butler said: 'I pray one day God touches them the way he touches me to have remorse, empathy and compassion. I am sorry to my victims, I am sorry to my victims' family and my family.'
Despite his apology, to Renee, Butler - who the bank employee knew as 'Money One' - will always be the monster who told her to say goodbye to her daughter.
'You have about 10 minutes to say whatever it is you'd want to say to your daughter because it might be the last thing you ever say to her if you screw up,' Renee previously recalled him saying to CBS 8.
'I told her that she was perfect for me. That she was everything I'd ever dreamed of in a daughter, that when I wanted to become a mom, and I chose to become a mom, that there would never be another more perfect soul for me as a mom, and how much I just loved her.'
In Friday's meeting, Butler admitted that he and his accomplices 'figured out that the daughter was the weapon we would use to [make her] risk her own life to go into the bank' after seeing a picture of the child days before the robbery.
'At the time, my daughter was only 5 years old in that photo,' Renee said.
'For somebody to come in and point to a photo of a 5-year-old child and say, "I’m going to weaponize that,’ and then they say that this person is suitable for parole, I find that not only fascinating, but semi-horrifying as well.”'
'What kind of person lies about the person whose life they destroyed?' she said at the hearing. 'Who is the kind of person that hangs onto that lie and perpetuates it for 20 years? Is that the type of person that we can consider being safe and who is capable of making decisions?'
Butler had even tried to get rapper Ludacris - who was a childhood best friend - to write a letter to the board, but the musician never responded, according to CBS 8.
On the day of the robbery, Renee was forced to drive to the Vista branch with her back not touching her seat over fears she would set off the explosive.
'You're driving, and you're seeing these people in the car next to you, just having a normal morning, going to work, and I still have the dynamite on my back,' she told the outlet.
'I just want to scream for somebody to please help me and help us and tell somebody what's going on. And I can't.'
When she arrived to work, she entered the vault with a coworker and showed her the dynamite, causing the other woman to hyperventilate.
The dynamite (pictured) turned out to be broken drumsticks that were painted red and had wires taped to it
Butler had even tried to get rapper Ludacris - who was a childhood best friend of his - to write a letter to the board, but the musician never responded
Renee told her to calm down and prepare to shut the bank down before starting to shovel money into the duffle.
'I told her I had five minutes, or we're gonna blow. I just started stuffing stacks of cash into a bag,' she said.
By the time she got back out to her car, where Butler was crouched in the back seat, she had $360,000 in the bag.
The pair drove off together and then Butler, who was wearing a ski mask, directed her where to go before telling her to get out of the car.
He gave her directions on where to find her Jeep and took off.
A few blocks away, she watched her tormentors drive off in a getaway car and found her Jeep exactly where he said it would be, according to the outlet.
With the fake explosive strapped to her back, Butler - who Renee knew as 'Money One' - told her to say goodbye to her daughter. 'I told her that she was perfect for me,' she recalled
Renee put $360,000 into a duffle bag before leaving the bank and driving away with Butler
She quickly began scribbling everything down on her car seats, which 'turned out to be really helpful for the police.'
Quickly after, she rushed home to find Breea and her roommate safe, dynamite free.
The trio ran over the neighbor's house when they realized Renee still had the dynamite strapped to her back.
The neighbor called 911, and a bomb squad determined the explosive was simply drumsticks painted red with wires taped to it to make it look real, according to CBS News.
As the police investigated the heist, Renee began putting together the pieces herself and recalled an odd interaction with a bank client the day before.
She remembered Butler had met with her the day before about opening up a business account at Bank of America and started rambling.
Before he left, he had given her a business card that belonged to Christopher S. Butler and claimed he was a night club photographer.
Shortly after, Butler, Huggins, and Ortiz were arrested during a traffic stop.
After she returned home, she realized she still had the dynamite on her and they ran to a neighbor to call the police, who easily determined the explosive was harmless
Renee drove her red Jeep to and from the crime scene
The mother-daughter duo do not believe Butler has shown remorse for his crimes (pictured: the gun used)
Leading up to Friday's hearing, Renee and her daughter had strongly opposed Butler's prospective release.
'I think, like with the others, I've been looking for clear evidence of remorse, looking for clear evidence of the deep work that needs to be done so there are not any of those dangerous red flags in terms of whether everyone will be safe if he's released,' she told CBS 8.
'I cannot say with any confidence that I've seen any of those signs from Mr. Butler.'
Despite their wish for Butler to stay in custody, they have forgiven Huggins and Ortiz, they told the outlet.
Breea even spoke at Ortiz's hearing in 2021, where she said: 'I believe it's time for him to go be with his family and to be released from prison.'
Huggins is due to go before the board in March 2025.
'Huggins, just like Ortiz, has put in so much work since the day he got there,' the mother said. 'There is clear evidence of remorse. There is clear evidence of wanting to make amends.'
When Butler was asked what was the worst thing he had done to the mother and daughter, he told the board he 'couldn't give an answer,' according to Renee.
Pictured: Renee and her daughter Breea today
Pictured: The duct tape used to bound their wrists and feet while they were held hostage in their home
Renee remembered Butler had met with her the day before about opening up a business account at Bank of America and had started rambling. Before he left, he had given her a business card that belonged to Christopher S. Butler and claimed he was a night club photographer
For Renee, he stole her career and the life that they knew.
They, on the other hand, have a very clear idea what they lost that night.
'He stole a seven-year-old's childhood and made me restart,' Breea told CBS 8. 'That's the worst he did, to me at least.'
'So much was gone in an absolute blink of an eye that night. I think the worst thing he did was destroy the life we knew,' she told the outlet.
Before, she thought she had to embody the 'corporate-ladder-climbing mom' to give her daughter a good example, but after the strange ordeal, she realized family had to come first.
'I wanted to do this right, get through this well, get through this in a really healthy way. It became my number one focus, and that is still true today,' she told the outlet.
Since then, Renee has started a media company and a podcast, the pair have traveled to 17 countries, and Breea has got married.
'I want people to understand that no matter what you've survived, you can move your life in a direction that is positive, full of love, full of joy,' the mother said.
Butler may have been granted parole, but there is one final hurdle for him before achieving freedom; Governor Gavin Newsom now has 180 days to approve the parole, reverse it, or send the decision back for review by a panel.
In response to Butler walking the streets again, Renee said she's 'just hoping that whatever he started there is going to stick and he continues along that path should he get out.'
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