Florida man beaten to death with club at golf course, held underwater

A South Florida antheral is facing a first-degree execution complaint for allegedly beating a 65-year-old antheral to decease with a play club astatine a play people successful Palm Beach Gardens, authorities said.

Junior Boucher, 36, of West Palm Beach, is facing a first-degree execution complaint successful the decease of Brian Hitlebeitel, 65, astatine the Sandhill Crane Golf Club, a city-owned people on Northlake Boulevard westbound of Florida’s Turnpike, earlier this week.

He’s besides accused of choking the unfortunate and holding his caput underwater successful a pond, successful what was described by Palm Beach Gardens Police Chief Dominick Pape arsenic a “random enactment of violence.”

The deadly onslaught occurred successful wide daylight connected Monday. Officers responded to the play nine conscionable earlier 1:30 p.m. aft receiving respective 911 calls astir a vicious onslaught adjacent the archetypal spread of the course, reported section presumption WPBF, citing arresting documents.

When authorities arrived astatine the scene, they located Hitlebeitel adjacent a pond with heavy cuts to the backmost of his caput and body. He was pronounced dormant astatine the scene.

Boucher, who was identified arsenic the suspect, tried to tally distant adjacent arsenic officers repeatedly told him to stop. He was yet taken into custody aft Palm Beach Gardens police utilized an “electronic power device,” to detain him, the West Palm Beach Post reported.

A witnesser aboriginal told constabulary they saw Boucher striking the unfortunate aggregate times successful the head. During the attack, Hitlebeitel could beryllium heard yelling, “He’s trying to termination me.”

The witnesser besides told constabulary that aft the deadly incident, Boucher got retired of the pond and “stripped his apparel off” earlier walking away, WTSP reported.

“At this time, it does not look that Boucher had immoderate morganatic intent for being astatine the golf,” Pape said astatine a quality league connected Tuesday. “Boucher used the victim’s play clubs arsenic weapons and viciously attacked the victim, yet sidesplitting him.”

During his archetypal tribunal quality connected Tuesday, Boucher said helium believed helium was “a unfortunate of witchcraft,” WPEC reported.

Boucher — who has antecedently been arrested for home battery, artillery connected a constabulary serviceman and cause possession — is being held without enslaved astatine the Palm Beach County Jail.