A quiet afternoon on a Palm Beach Gardens golf course took a horrifying turn when a man was killed in what police are calling a random act of violence. The suspect, 36-year-old Junior Boucher, is now facing first-degree murder charges for the brutal attack on 65-year-old Brian Hiltebeitel.
The tragedy unfolded Monday afternoon at Sandhill Crane Golf Club, a public course not far from West Palm Beach. According to authorities, Boucher attacked Hiltebeitel with his own golf clubs before holding his head underwater in a pond near the first hole. Police are still piecing together the details but believe the two men didn’t know each other.
Detectives say they have yet to uncover a motive. Palm Beach Gardens Police Major Javier Garcia described the attack as a “random act of violence.”
The grim discovery happened around 1:30 p.m. when officers responded to frantic 911 calls about a man being beaten with golf clubs. When they arrived, they found Hiltebeitel’s lifeless body in the water. Witnesses told police they saw Boucher chasing and repeatedly striking the victim before forcing him into the pond.
The shocking scene didn’t end there. Witnesses said that after the attack, Boucher stripped off his clothes and wandered toward nearby woods. Police quickly apprehended him, using a stun gun to subdue him before taking him to a hospital for evaluation. By late Monday night, Boucher was booked into jail, where he remains without bond.
Court records reveal that Boucher’s family had reported him missing about an hour before the assault. Interestingly, the same day as the attack, two of his relatives filed an eviction notice against him—the second time they’d done so, with the first being in 2018.
Hiltebeitel, who lived in West Palm Beach, was remembered by his girlfriend, Dina Lauro, as a kind and uplifting person. The couple had moved to Florida from Philadelphia, and Lauro said she was in disbelief over his tragic death. “He was my everything,” she shared. “He always had a smile on his face and brought so much joy to those around him.”
The horrific attack has left the community shaken, with many wondering what could have led to such violence. Police Chief Dominick Pape noted that Boucher had no apparent reason to be at the golf course that day. The investigation is ongoing, and authorities are still interviewing witnesses and gathering evidence.
Boucher is scheduled to appear in court on December 26 for a hearing on the murder charge. For now, the community mourns the loss of a beloved member while grappling with the senseless nature of this tragedy.
