PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. — “He’s trying to kill me.”
Those words were among the last uttered by 65-year-old Brian Hiltebritel before he was beaten to death with a golf club.
Police said they were called to the Sandhill Crane Golf Club located in Palm Beach Gardens around 1:20 p.m. after getting multiple 911 calls about a man attacking another man with a golf club.
Responding officers arrived at the first hole of the golf course, located next to a pond, and found Hiltebritel dead in the water. Police said they “immediately” located the suspect, 36-year-old Junior Boucher, trying to get away.
After refusing to stop, police said they were able to take Boucher into custody after using a taser.
According to the arrest report, one of the officers spoke with a witness to get an idea of what happened. The witness reportedly told police they were playing golf at the first hole with two other people when they heard a man yelling.
Looking in the direction of the yelling, the witness said they saw Hiltebritel trying to get away from Boucher, who was holding a golf club and swinging it toward the 65-year-old. Hiltebritel was reportedly unarmed.
The witness reportedly told police Hiltebritel repeatedly yelled “he’s trying to kill me.”
At one point, both men fell on the ground and Boucher started hitting Hiltebritel multiple times with the golf club.
The witness said the two men briefly separated before Boucher grabbed another golf club and continued chasing Hiltebritel toward the pond at the first hole.
Boucher reportedly kept hitting Hiltebritel in the head repeatedly with the golf club until both men were in the water. Once in the pond, Boucher reportedly jumped on top of Hiltebritel and appeared to choke him.
The arrest report says Boucher got off Hiltebritel, who wasn’t moving anymore, grabbed a golf club, and hit him repeatedly in the head.
The witness reportedly told police that after this, Boucher got out of the pond, “stripped his clothes off” and started walking away.
Police said they pulled Hiltebritel out of the water in an attempt to save him. He had “multiple deep lacerations” on the back of his head and his body. The fire department said he died at the scene.
The arresting officer said in their report they tried to speak with Boucher, who had been taken to a local medical center, but the man “immediately” said he wanted a lawyer.
Boucher was arrested and charged with one count of premeditated murder. He was released from the medical center and booked into jail.