Who is Butch Weldy from Spoon River Anthology and what is their importance?

We actually learn something tragic about Buttch before we meet him, the reader learns that he raped Minerva Jones. Butch tells the reader that after he "got religion and settled down" he got a job at the Spoon River canning works, where each morning he had to fill the tank in front of the works with gasoline. One day he was on a ladder executing his daily task when the gasoline-filled tank exploded and sent him flying. Butch tells the reader he landed on the ground with both of his legs broken and his eyes fried to a crisp "like a couple of eggs." At his trial, Butch says, the judge determined that whoever caused the explosion was a fellow worker of Butch's so the owner of the canning works did not have to pay him for his suffering.