Prosecutor: Handyman had ‘intent to kill’ in deadly attack on Coachella Valley senior

INDIO, Calif. (KESQ) - A pool serviceman who fatally beat a 93-year-old Palm Desert woman during a robbery at her home applied "all of his" force to snuff out her life with the motivation of taking her money, making him guilty of first-degree murder, a prosecutor alleged today, while the man's attorney argued his client "freaked out" during the encounter and didn't plan on taking her life.

Along with the murder count, Benjamin Cabrera Briones, 62, of Thousand Palms is charged with burglary, forgery and special-circumstance allegations of killing in the course of a robbery and murder for financial gain in the 2021 death of Jean Grace Willrich.

``She suffered massive blunt force trauma to her face,'' Riverside County Deputy District Attorney Hawlee Valente said during her closing statement at the Larson Justice Center Thursday. ``He beat her, bludgeoned her repeatedly. He applied all of his body weight on her collar bone. That's intent to kill.''

Briones, who was both a pool serviceman and general handyman, had gone to the residence on the pretext of fixing a toilet. However, the prosecution argued that his real motivation was theft.

"He intended to defraud, and the victim was an easy target,'' Valente said.  

On Nov. 29, 2021, the defendant arrived in his work truck clearly marked ``Briones Pools'' at the victim's house in the 77000 block of Michigan Drive at 6:20 a.m. and remained for almost exactly 50 minutes -- a time frame that sheriff's detectives were able to confirm relying on tape from security surveillance video cameras at neighbors' properties, according to the prosecution.

Valente alleged he wore latex gloves during and after the murder. Pieces of the gloves were located inside the house.   

After leaving the property, Briones drove to an ATM outside an Albertson's supermarket in Palm Desert and deposited one of her checks into his business account, according to the prosecution.

Deputy Public Defender Richard Verlato acknowledged, ``There's no question Mr. Briones is guilty of the fraudulent check,'' but he challenged the prosecution's contention that his client was ``guilty beyond a reasonable doubt'' of killing for financial gain.

The attorney asserted Briones did not have an intent to kill when he arrived at the home -- to which he'd been invited -- but in the course of speaking with Willrich, ``he freaked out,'' causing him to lose control and fatally assault the woman, for whom he had once worked to maintain her pool until she fired him over a payment dispute.   

``It's inconclusive how much pressure he applied to her," Verlato said, insisting that the most his client could be convicted of was second-degree murder.

On Nov. 30, 2021, a concerned friend, Patricia McDonald, went to the victim's house and used a spare key to enter, finding the victim ``laying in a puddle of dried blood, her face swollen,'' according to trial testimony.   

Sheriff's Investigator Gustavo Castaneda testified previously that during an interview with Briones, the defendant admitted turning hostile when Willrich started questioning why he was walking around her home and not fixing the toilet.

``That's when he proceeded to assault her,'' Castaneda said. ``Mr. Briones explained to us how he punched her, choked her and eventually got on top of her. He continued to punch her, hit her with both open and closed fists because she wouldn't stop screaming. When she stopped moving, he got up, grabbed (her) checks and left.''   

Valente said that after a search warrant was executed at the defendant's residence, bloodstained shoes, a shirt, pants and other items of evidentiary value were seized. A notepad bearing names and addresses was also located, and ``Willrich's name and address were the only ones crossed out,'' the deputy district attorney said.   

Briones was arrested without incident on Dec. 3, 2021, during a traffic stop near Bob Hope and Frank Sinatra drives in Rancho Mirage.   

Superior Court Judge Anthony Villalobos directed jurors to return to the Indio courthouse Friday to commence deliberations in the two-week trial.   

Briones, who has no documented prior felony convictions recorded in Riverside County, is being held without bail at the Benoit Detention Center.