PENDLETON — The Umatilla County District Attorney’s Office wrapped up two homicide cases last week.

Antonio Vasquez-Vargas, 55, of Walla Walla, pleaded guilty Tuesday, May 18, in the 2018 shooting death of his co-worker at a dairy outside of Umapine. And William Harvey Butcher III, 29, of Hollywood, Maryland, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder the next day in the beating death of a man in Pendleton in June 2020.

Vasquez-Vargas received a state prison sentence of 20 years for first-degree manslaughter and a consecutive two and a half years for possessing a weapon as a convicted felon, court records show. He also will serve two and a half years under post-prison supervision, documents show.

He pleaded guilty in the fatal shooting of Renee Luiz-Antonio, of Milton-Freewater, who was Vasquez-Vargas’ co-worker, according to news reports.

“Ultimately I am really pleased with this case,” Umatilla County District Attorney Dan Primus said. “You’re talking about a victim’s family that can move forward at this point.”

The guilty plea makes this the second time Vasquez-Vargas has killed a person, news reports show. In 1999, the Walla Walla Union-Bulletin reporte Vasquez-Vargas was sentenced to two years, three months in prison after pleading guilty to vehicular homicide.

The case against Vasquez-Vargas was an especially long process because he was provided new counsel just before his trial date, and because of mental health evaluations that needed to be conducted, Primus said.

“I would not say this was average,” he said. “But every case is unique. Every case has different circumstances that you have to address.”

Plea deal negotiations resulted in the dismissal of murder charges against Vasquez-Vargas, according to Primus and court documents. If Vasquez-Vargas was sentenced for murder, he would have received 25 years to life in prison.

Primus said he was ultimately satisfied with the result of the negotiations, especially for the victim’s family, but added “in any negotiation, for it to be successful you have to come to an agreement, but both sides will always want more than they get.”

And Butcher will serve 25 years to life in prison with 100 years of post-prison supervision for the death of Daniel Self, 47. The court also ordered Butcher to pay $2,535.66 in restitution, court documents show.

“I am more than pleased with the outcome of this case,” Primus said. “But for the victim’s family, this will be with them for the rest of their life.”

Last June, police found Self, who was experiencing homelessness while living in Pendleton, badly beaten on Pendleton’s Westgate Place Bridge near Trailhead Park, according to news reports and court documents.

Police found and arrested Butcher, who also was experiencing homelessness, covered in blood at the scene. He confessed in an interview with police that same day to beating Self with the backside of an ax and strangling him, according to court documents.

Self was transported to St. Anthony Hospital, where he died from his injuries, documents show.

Butcher can apply for parole after 25 years in prison, according to court documents.