23-year-old man accused in Palm Desert murder pleas not guilty due to insanity

A 23-year-old Escondido man accused of fatally stabbing his girlfriend in Palm Desert pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity today.    

Richard Colin Holbrook was arrested Oct. 27, 2019, on suspicion of killing 33-year-old Nicole Henderson, who was stabbed in her apartment in the 45200 block of Panorama Drive. Holbrook was less than a quarter-mile from the scene, minutes after the woman's body was found.    

Holbrook is charged with first-degree murder and willful child cruelty, along with a sentence-enhancing allegation of using a weapon -- a knife -- during the commission of the murder.

A Riverside County Superior Court judge last month found there was sufficient evidence for Holbrook to stand trial during a preliminary hearing at the Larson Justice Center.

Holbrook appeared in court for a post-preliminary hearing arraignment on Monday, and he pleaded not guilty and not guilty by reason of insanity. The plea means that if he is convicted, a jury will have to determine if he was legally insane at the time of the crime.    

In March 2020, Holbrook was found mentally competent to stand trial, after undergoing a psychiatric evaluation.

Riverside County Superior Court Judge Burke Strunsky ordered him to undergo the evaluation after Holbrook tried to plead guilty during his arraignment even though his attorney had already pleaded not guilty on his behalf.

A motive in the slaying has not been disclosed.

Holbrook, who has no documented felony convictions, remains jailed on $1 million bail at the Robert Presley Detention Center in Riverside.