Trio Sentenced for Killing Robert Bettencourt During Home Invasion
MURRIETA (CNS) – Three men who conspired in the slaying of a 78-year- old Winchester resident during a home invasion robbery were sentenced last Friday to life in prison without the possibility of parole, leaving only one of their number awaiting trial and disposition of his case.
Matthew Patrick Fromer, 53, of Menifee, Clifford John Franken, 55, of Hemet and Kevin Richard Hirsch, 48, of Menifee all participated in the 2023 robbery-murder of Robert Bettencourt.
Fromer and Franken were each convicted, in separate trials earlier this year, of first-degree murder, robbery, burglary and special circumstance allegations of killing in the course of a robbery and during the commission of a burglary.
Hirsch reached a plea agreement with the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office in February, admitting murder, the special-circumstance allegation for burglary and the burglary and robbery counts.
The last of the foursome, whose case is still pending adjudication, 35- year-old Joseph Michael Salvati of Hemet, is slated to appear for a trial- setting conference at the Southwest Justice Center next Friday. The defendant, who is acting as his own attorney, is being held without bail at the Smith Correctional Facility. He’s facing the same charges for which Fromer and Franken were convicted.
During a hearing at the Murrieta courthouse Friday, Superior Court Judge Stephen Gallon imposed the sentence required under state law for the offenses committed by Fromer, Franken and Hirsch.
According to a trial brief filed by the prosecution, Hirsch and Fromer were initially the only two conspirators, discussing plans regarding how to commit a break-in at Bettencourt’s residence in the 28100 block of Whitaker Street after learning from someone who’d worked around the double-wide trailer that the victim had a large stash of rare coins and firearms.
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 said.
“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 conspirators gathered in the predawn hours of March 3, 2023, going to Bettencourt’s remote property in separate vehicles. They arrived shortly after 3 a.m., forcing their way into the residence and confronting the victim as he slept, court papers stated. After subduing Bettencourt, Hirsch fatally shot him.
The brief said the foursome spent almost two hours ransacking the place, stealing the victim’s collection of rare coins, along with tools, guns and anything else they could load into the bed of a pickup. They separated afterward.
One of the victim’s friends went to the property three days later to check on him. Finding the trailer in complete disarray, he called for deputies, who discovered the victim’s remains “underneath several items of junk,” the brief stated.
Homicide 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.
A search warrant was served on Hirsch at a Hemet motel, where detectives seized “multiple cell phones” and a Smith & Wesson revolver, later determined to be the one used in the killing.
After connecting all of the 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 recorded was also seized.
After he 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 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 were different items found during the search of each defendant … When asked if he `popped the old dude,’ Hirsch admitted he shot him.”
Fromer had a prior conviction for driving under the influence of drugs, while Franken had a prior for vehicle theft, and Hirsch had two priors in another jurisdiction that weren’t listed in court documents.
Salvati has priors for carjacking and felony evading.
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