A horrifying murder has joined the long list of violent deaths that stain the history of Sports in black. A golfer has died after being hit with his own clubs and strangled in what police believe was a random attack by a man with a history of violence, whose family had just kicked him out of the house.
Brian Hiltebeitel, 65, was playing at Sandhill Crane Golf Club when, according to Palm Beach Gardens police, was attacked by Junior Boucher, 36, whose disappearance had been reported by his family an hour earlier.
A wild and random attack
According to the police reportwitnesses heard Hiltebeitel scream, “He’s trying to kill me.”and then they saw Boucher hitting him with a club on the first fairway. Hiltebeitel tried to flee, but Boucher grabbed another stick from Hiltebeitel’s bag and chased him to a pond, where he jumped on him, strangled him and hit him again, police said.
Police Chief Dominick Pape said no. No connection has been found between Hiltebeitel and Boucher nor is there immediate evidence of a confrontation or argument before the attack.
After the attack, Boucher took off his clothes and fled naked into the woods. Officers had to use a stun gun to subdue him. Boucher was being held without bail Wednesday after being charged with first-degree murder. He has prior arrests for domestic violence, assault on a police officer and drug possession.
Hiltebeitel, who had owned an organic food company, was pronounced dead at the scene.
Junior Boucher, 36, who now faces a murder charge has numerous criminal records. His family had requested a restraining order so they could kick him out of the house due to domestic violence, erratic behavior, mental health, aggressive behavior and verbal abuse, according to their petition to the court.
“I’m trying to put out the eyes of a police dog.”
In 2023, Boucher pleaded guilty to fleeing a marked police vehicle, resisting an officer without violence, and committing a crime against a police dog. Deputies said Boucher grabbed one of the agency’s K9 units by the neck. and attempted to “gouge out” the dog’s eyes after leading officers on a chase through Okeeheelee Park to a shopping center in Wellington.
Boucher He served approximately 230 days in the Palm Beach County Jail and completed 115 hours of community service after enrolling in a program within a nonprofit organization.
Palm Beach Gardens Police (PBGPD) said Boucher He also had multiple drug offenses and was arrested for domestic battery. It is unknown at this time if he was under the influence of some substance but declared to the police that he had been bewitched.
