The Probably Stolen Butcher is a wanted criminal sporting a 450-Credit bounty, but Security conveniently forgets to mention the tiny downside of cashing it in.
He peddles fresh meat and scavenged goodies at a discount. Report him, though, and he’ll eventually come back for revenge like a very large, apron-wearing bad penny. Getting arrested barely slowed him down.
If you’ve already woken up to “MEAT” scrawled across your storefront in blood or found a threatening note paired with a Meat Cleaver, congratulations, you’re deep in his personal horror movie.
Here’s how to find the big guy, claim his bounty, survive the payback and finally get Sawyer to handle the problem permanently.
All About Butcher:
Where to Find the Butcher in Probably Stolen
The Butcher is a wanted criminal from the Lower Levels who swings by your shop to sell meat and random loot he found in the Abandoned Sections.
Earliest possible appearance: Day 14 (or Day 5 if you enabled Skip Intro). No guarantees he’ll show on those exact days, he’s fashionably late like that.
Officer Lun hands you the Security Wanted List early on. Keep it open while sketchy customers are still at the counter and compare faces. His bounty is a 450 Credits.
Miss him? No sweat. As long as you haven’t turned him in, he can pop back every seven days. The Nightly Report will sometimes snitch that a wanted criminal visited yesterday if you weren’t paying attention.
What Does The Butcher Sell?
On his first visit you get a juicy 25 percent wholesale discount if you buy his entire stock. Expect fresh meat plus a few suspicious souvenirs from his Abandoned Sections field trip:
| Item | Quantity on first visit |
| Small Satchel | 1 |
| Crowbar | 1 |
| Raw Meat (Standard) | 1 |
| Raw Meat (Small) | 2 |
| Animal Fat | 1 |
That Small Satchel is more interesting than your average junk. Inside: a Scavenger’s Token, a journal entry, Peat, Common Electronic Parts and an Energy Drink.
What Happens If You Keep Trading With Him?
Let him walk and he’ll keep returning every seven days with more meat. Later deliveries are flagged as stolen (hello, Heat) and come with a 20% wholesale discount. The quantity of meat can ramp up as your run goes on, making him a suspiciously convenient food supplier, until Security decides to do an inspection.
You can also buy everything from his first discounted haul and then report him while he’s still standing there. Shopping doesn’t cancel the alarm button.
How to Arrest the Butcher for 450 Credits
Once you’ve matched the face, collecting the bounty is straightforward.
- Open the Security Wanted List and confirm it’s The Butcher’s ugly mug.
- Wait for him to show up in the red cap and bloodstained apron.
- While he’s still at the window, press and hold the teal Call Security button under your counter.
- First time using the alarm? It might just give a warning. Hit it again to actually call them.
- Officers arrive, haul him off and you get paid.
Rewards for reporting him:
| Reward | Amount |
| Credits | 450 |
| Security Reputation | +5 |
| Lower Levels Reputation | +6 |
| Incident Slip | 1 |
That’s the base bounty. Starting perks that mess with Wanted List payouts can change the final number.
He does not go quietly. He argues that fresh meat is valuable and maybe nobody needs to know where it came from. Then, as the officers move in, he promises he’ll be back once he’s free. One officer even has to call for backup because the guy is built like a refrigerator with anger issues.
Should You Report the Butcher or Let Him Go?
Take the bounty if you want to finish the full storyline. Leave him alone if your shop is running low on food and you’re okay with a slightly shady recurring vendor.
Sparing him means discounted meat on a regular schedule and zero revenge arc. Reporting him gets you the cash and reputation, ends the meat deliveries and kicks off a delayed campaign of vandalism and personal threats.
Financially it’s not a slam dunk. Sawyer’s eventual please go murder this guy for me service costs 500 Credits base and it’s 50 more than the bounty. Cleaning the blood graffiti may cost extra on top.
The smart money move for bounty hunters is buy his first stock, then call Security. You get the goods and the rewards and still have to deal with the consequences later.
What Happens After Arresting the Butcher?
Arresting him is only the beginning. You’ll get a few days of normal business before the fun starts.
The MEAT Graffiti
Around six days after the arrest, you wake up to find MEAT written across your storefront in blood. The game treats this as part of his revenge, even though you never actually catch the artist red-handed (or blood-handed).
Enable Janitorial Service in your overnight services before sleeping. The next Nightly Report should confirm the mess is gone. Cleaning the graffiti does not end the storyline. There’s more coming.
The Meat Cleaver and Threatening Note
About three days after the graffiti, two lovely gifts are waiting on your counter when you open:
- A Meat Cleaver
- A handwritten note signed by The Butcher
The note basically says get yourself a gun. He’s patient and will be waiting for the moment you step outside. Suddenly nighttime excursions get a lot more tense.
The Meat Cleaver is a usable item that can also butcher animals you own. You don’t need to wave it at him or hand it to anyone to progress the quest. It’s just a charming little reminder.
Can You Leave Your Shop While The Butcher Is Hunting You?
Yes, if you have a firearm selected in your backpack. Owning a gun somewhere in storage doesn’t count. If you’re heading to the Dumping Grounds or Dr. Jackson, pack heat first.
You can also just stay inside and keep trading. The hunt has no time limit, so there’s no rush to go cosplay action hero. There’s a much easier (and safer) way to resolve this.
How to Stop the Butcher’s Revenge
The solution is hiring Sawyer’s crew via the Butcher Hunting Service.
Sawyer is tied to the Janitorial Service and Underground Exchange. After the cleaver and note show up, he’ll eventually visit and mention that The Butcher has also been a problem for his people. He offers to take care of it for 500 Credits.
Activate the Butcher Hunting Service
Wait until you’ve received the Meat Cleaver and threatening note, keep opening the shop until Sawyer shows up with the offer and close up at the end of the day.
Then Open Nightly Services through your bedroll and enable Butcher Hunting Service for 500 Credits. Finally, sleep and check the Nightly Report the next morning.
Make sure you’re turning on the Butcher Hunting option, not digging around in Joe Wild’s regular upgrades. Sawyer’s dialogue unlocks it, but you still have to flip the switch and pay.
What Happens After Paying Sawyer?
Sawyer’s crew pays The Butcher a visit overnight. The Nightly Report confirms the situation has been handled and that The Butcher won’t be selling much fresh meat anymore (for reasons that are probably messy).
The hunt ends, the special service disappears and you can go outside at night without wondering if a very large man with a grudge is waiting. No extra bounty or special item for hiring Sawyer just the sweet relief of not being hunted.
Butcher Hunting Service Not Showing Up?
Check your progress. The service doesn’t unlock right after the arrest or after cleaning the graffiti. You need the Meat Cleaver plus note first, then Sawyer has to visit and make the offer (at least one day after the cleaver event).
If he hasn’t shown yet, just keep serving customers. Once he does offer, remember you still have to enable it in Nightly Services yourself. Dialogue alone won’t finish the job.
The Butcher’s Complete Storyline Timeline
Relative timing (don’t expect a fixed calendar dates):
| Event | When it happens |
| First possible appearance | Day 14, or Day 5 with Skip Intro |
| Return visits if spared | Every 7 days |
| Arrest and 450-Credit reward | When you report him |
| MEAT graffiti appears | About 6 days after arrest |
| Meat Cleaver and threatening note | Around 3 days after the graffiti |
| Sawyer offers Butcher Hunting | At least 1 day after the cleaver |
| Revenge storyline ends | Overnight after paying for Butcher Hunting |
If the next event is taking its sweet time, don’t assume the quest is broken. The game deliberately spaces the drama with normal business days in between.
Is The Butcher Connected to Eleanor or Giorgio?
His timing can feel suspicious if you’re also deep in Eleanor’s storyline. The satchel journal talks about an Abandoned Sections scavenger who found good loot and then felt something creepy nearby. Spooky, sure. I tried a lot to find a confirmed connection and Nope. The satchel and journal belong to some unrelated scavenger.
There’s also no confirmed link between The Butcher and Giorgio’s disappearance. Selling scavenged stuff doesn’t automatically mean he turned Giorgio into sausages. Eleanor’s care package and the uncle encounters are separate. You don’t need to finish The Butcher’s revenge to progress her story.
