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

A few pages prior to meeting "Butch" Weldy, 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.