Killing Winchester Senior
Hirsch agrees to `pop the old man.” ~ Prosecutors trial brief, citing a recorded conversation in evidence.
MURRIETA (CNS) – Jury selection continued Monday in the trial of three of four men accused of gunning down a 78-year-old Winchester resident during a home invasion robbery that one of the alleged perpetrators bragged had been a “huge payday.”
Clifford John Franken, 54, of Hemet, Matthew Patrick Fromer, 52, of Menifee, and Kevin Richard Hirsch, 47, of Menifee, allegedly murdered Robert Bettencourt in 2023.
They’re all charged with first-degree murder, robbery, burglary and special-circumstance allegations of killing in the course of a robbery and killing in the commission of a burglary.
Joseph Michael Salvati, 34, of Hemet, is charged identically. However, he’s representing himself and will be tried separately, possibly next month.
All of the men are being held without bail. Franken and Fromer are jailed at the Byrd Detention Center, while Hirsch is at the Robert Presley Jail, and Salvati at the Smith Correctional Facility.
Riverside County Superior Court Judge Stephen Gallon ruled on pretrial motions last week and ordered multiple panels of prospective jurors to the Southwest Justice Center in Murrieta Thursday for screening as to their availability and qualifications. The process is expected to continue for at least another week.
According to a trial brief filed by the prosecution, Hirsch and Fromer were initially the only two alleged conspirators, discussing plans on how to commit a break-in at Bettencourt’s residence in the 28100 block of Whitaker Street, near Grand Avenue, after learning from someone who had worked around the double-wide trailer that the victim kept a large stash of rare coins and firearms with him.
Hirsch recorded the 40-minute conversation between he and Fromer on his Apple iPhone, then shared it in text form with Franken and Salvati, prosecutors alleged.
“During that recorded conversation, (they) discuss a plan to burglarize and murder the `old man,”‘ the brief stated. “Hirsch agrees to `pop the old man.”
The men gathered in the predawn hours of March 3, 2023, and went to Bettencourt’s remote property in separate vehicles — a dune buggy, Ford SUV and Toyota pickup — according to the brief. They arrived shortly after 3 a.m., allegedly forcing their way into the residence and confronting the victim as he slept, court papers stated.
After subduing Bettencourt, Franken went out to the dune buggy and revved the engine in an attempt to mask the sounds of gunfire as Hirsch fatally shot the senior, prosecutors alleged.
The brief said the foursome spent almost two hours allegedly ransacking the residence, stealing the victim’s collection of rare coins, tools, guns, vehicle batteries and anything else they could load into the bed of the pickup. Afterward, they separated, driving to different locations with their loot.
One of the victim’s friends became concerned when he couldn’t reach him, and went to the property three days later to determine what may have happened. Finding the residence unlocked and in complete disarray, he immediately stepped outside and called 911.
Sheriff’s deputies discovered the victim’s remains “underneath several items of junk,” the brief stated.
Central Homicide Unit detectives were able to obtain security surveillance video from a nearby property, which captured all of the vehicles coming and going from the victim’s home. The investigators were then able to match the vehicles to other images recorded via license plate recognition cameras strategically placed at various locations in the Hemet Valley, according to court papers.
Sufficient evidence was amassed to obtain a search warrant for Hirsch’s room at a Hemet motel, where detectives seized “multiple cell phones” and a Smith & Wesson revolver, later determined to be the one used in the deadly shooting, prosecutors alleged.
After connecting all of the alleged conspirators, additional warrants were served, culminating in further seizures of rare coins and tools identified as belonging to the victim, according to the brief. Hirsch’s phone and the case- breaking conversation that he’d allegedly recorded was also seized, prosecutors said.
After Hirsch was booked into custody, undercover deputies posing as inmates were placed in the same cell with him, leading to a conversation in which the defendant allegedly placed himself at the crime, along with his co- defendants, the brief said.
“He described the crime as a `huge payday’ and the equivalent of a `retirement bust,”‘ according to the narrative. “Hirsch described the payout in the form of `guns, coins and money,’ all of which are different items found during the search of each defendant … When asked if he `popped the old dude,’ Hirsch admitted he shot the victim.”
Court documents show Franken has a prior conviction for vehicle theft, while Fromer has a prior felony for driving under the influence of drugs, and Hirsch has two priors in another jurisdiction that weren’t listed.
Salvati has priors in Riverside County for carjacking and felony evading.
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