Golfer brutally beaten to death with clubs at course in Florida, police say

A man is facing a murder charge after police said he brutally attacked a golfer with his own golf clubs in a seemingly random killing at a course in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.

Junior Boucher, 36, of West Palm Beach, is facing a first-degree murder charge in the killing of 65-year-old Brian Hiltebeitel, an arrest report said.

Dina Lauro, Hiltebeitel’s girlfriend, told NBC Miami that they both used to live in the Philadelphia area before moving to Florida.

The incident unfolded Monday afternoon at Sandhill Crane Golf Club in Palm Beach Gardens.

Palm Beach Sheriff's Office

Officers responded to the club around 1:20 p.m. after receiving several 911 calls of a man attacking another man with a golf club and found Hiltebeitel dead on the fairway of the first hole.

The officers made contact with Boucher as he was fleeing the scene and he was taken into custody after a short foot pursuit and "only after the use of an electronic control weapon," the report said.

A witness told officers he was golfing on the club's first hole when he heard a man yelling and saw Hiltebeitel retreating from Boucher, the report said.

Boucher was holding a golf club and swinging it toward Hiltebeitel, who was unarmed, the witness said.

Hiltebeitel yelled "he's trying to kill me" multiple times and at one point, both men fell to the ground and Boucher started hitting Hiltebeitel multiple times with the golf club, the report said.

The two separated and Boucher retrieved another golf club and again chased Hiltebeitel towards the pond at hole one, the report said.

"Boucher continued to strike Hiltebeitel in the head repeatedly with the golf club until they were in the pond," the report said. "Once in the water, Boucher jumped on top of Hiltebeitel and appeared to be choking him."

Boucher got off Hiltebeitel who was no longer moving and retrieved a golf club and struck him repeatedly in the head, the report said.

After that, Boucher got out of the water, stripped off his clothes and started to walk away before officers arrived, the report said.

Hiltebeitel was pulled from the water with multiple deep lacerations to the back of his head and pronounced dead at the scene.

Boucher was arrested and booked into jail. Attorney information wasn't available.

At a news conference Tuesday afternoon, Palm Beach Gardens Police Chief Dominick Pape said it appeared to have been a random attack.

"At this time, it does not appear that Boucher had any legitimate purpose for being at the golf course," Pape said. "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."

Pape said about an hour before the attack, Boucher had been reported missing by family to the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office.

Boucher has a lengthy arrest record that dates back to at least 2006, when he was arrested for possession of drugs with intent to distribute near a park or school in Westport, Massachusetts, Pape said.

He was arrested again for drug possession in 2008, then arrested in 2009 and 2011 for failure to appear, Pape said.

In 2018, Boucher was arrested for domestic battery and in 2022, he was arrested for fleeing and eluding, battery on a law enforcement officer and resisting with violence. He was convicted in 2023 and served 255 days in jail.