One-time murder suspect Gregory Breeden is found dead in Butler, Mo.

Gregory W. Breeden, a man once suspected in a string of murders of Kansas City women whose bodies were dumped in the Missouri River, was found dead Wednesday in Butler, Mo.

Bates County Coroner Gary Schowengerdt said Breeden died of natural causes and had been dead several days before his body was discovered in a motel where he lived. Butler is about 25 miles south of Harrisonville.

Breeden, 67, was investigated in the mid-1990s for the deaths of seven women. Some were prostitutes, and some of their bodies were mutilated. Breeden was charged in one death, but the case was dropped when a witness wouldn’t testify. Breeden, who denied killing the women, later served 10 years in prison on a bad-check offense.

This story was originally published May 22, 2014 at 12:13 AM with the headline "One-time murder suspect Gregory Breeden is found dead in Butler, Mo.."