Golfer Randomly Beaten With Own Golf Club Before Being Drowned On First Hole Of Florida Golf Course
A 65-year-old man by the name of Brian Hiltebeitel lost his life on Monday at a golf course in Florida in what police are calling a "random act of violence," and the details are incredibly disturbing.
According to a police report obtained by WPTV, Palm Beach Gardens police arrived at Sandhill Crane Golf Club just before 1:30 p.m. after being called about a man attacking another on the course. When officers arrived, they found Hiltebeitel's body lying on the fairway of the first hole with another naked man running away from the scene.
The man without clothes was 36-year-old Junior Boucher, who is being held in county jail without bond while facing first-degree murder charges.
According to the police report, a witness who was also on the first hole told police that he heard a man yelling before seeing Hiltebeitel "retreating" from Boucher, who was swinging a golf club towards Hiltebeitel. The witness said that Hiltebeitel was shouting "he's trying to kill me" as Boucher continued to approach him.
Hiltebeitel eventually fell to the ground and Boucher began striking him "multiple times" with the golf club in his hand. Boucher chased him toward a pond on the first hole, struck him in the head "repeatedly," and then proceeded to jump on top of Hiltebeitel in the water and "appeared to be choking him."
The witness told police that "Boucher then got off of Hiltebeitel who was no longer moving and retrieved a golf club and struck him repeatedly in the head." He then got out of the water, stripped his clothes, and began to walk away.
Brian Hiltebeitel lost his life on Monday at a Florida golf course. (Getty Images/Creative)
According to the statement provided by Palm Beach Gardens Police Chief Dominick Pape, Boucher was using a golf club out of Hiltebeitel's own golf bag to beat him before ultimately taking his life in the pond.
"At this time, it does not appear that Boucher had any legitimate purpose for being at the golf course," Pape said at a news conference on Tuesday. "This appears to be a random act of violence where Boucher used the victim's golf clubs as weapons and viciously attacked the victim, ultimately killing him."
Another disturbing detail in this grim situation is that Pape said that Boucher had been reported missing by the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office just one hour before he attacked Hiltebeitel on the golf course.