A Columbia man made a brief appearance Tuesday in 13th Circuit Court via video following his arrest last week on arson and murder charges.
Circuit Judge Kimberly Shaw set a bond hearing for Brandon Butchkoski, 47, for Oct. 16 and a preliminary hearing for Oct. 28.
Butchkoski was arrested Thursday on charges of first-degree arson and second-degree murder. He is accused of setting a porch on Paris Road on fire June 15 that killed Donovan Baylis, according to court documents.
Baylis, 31, died in a St. Louis hospital nearly a month later from his injuries in the fire.
Before midnight June 15, officers arrived at 1505 Paris Road where they found a gas can tipped over onto the porch and fire damage on the floor.
A Columbia police officer talked to a witness who said the victim tried to put out the fire before he was engulfed in flames. After the witness put the fire out with a hose, he told police he saw Baylis fall to the concrete.
Baylis was taken to Boone Hospital and then to Mercy Hospital in St. Louis where he died July 14.
Butchkoski is also accused of attempting arson on the same Paris Road property on June 29, according to court documents.
Officers were dispatched for a fire reported at the same address, where they found a blue backpack with yellow accents on the roof of the house. They reported that it contained a cleaner bottle, drink container and latex gloves filled with gasoline.
Security cameras at the intersection of Paris Road and College Avenue captured Butchkoski carrying a blue-and-yellow backpack before he arrived at the property.
Footage taken from another Paris Road address showed him throwing the backpack onto the roof of the house where the fire was later reported.
He was arrested July 3 in connection with the June 29 fire and charged with first-degree arson. Later, charges of drug possession were added to the case. A hearing in that case has been scheduled for Nov. 17.
Butchkoski, a homeless man, has been convicted of stealing and resisting arrest in Boone County. Court documents also list several prior arrests for drug possession and unlawful possession of a firearm.