Escondido Man Accused Of Killing Palm Desert Girlfriend: Update

PALM DESERT, CA — An Oct. 28 date was scheduled Thursday for a hearing that will determine whether there is enough evidence to warrant a trial for a 21-year-old Escondido man accused in the stabbing death of his girlfriend in Palm Desert last fall.

Richard Colin Holbrook is charged with first-degree murder in the Oct. 27 death of 33-year-old Nicole Henderson, who was found stabbed to death in her apartment.

Holbrook was previously found mentally competent in March after undergoing a psychiatric evaluation.

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

Deputies responding to the 45200 block of Panorama Drive on a report of an assault with a deadly weapon about 3:30 p.m. Oct. 27 found Henderson, who was pronounced dead at the scene. Holbrook was arrested less than a quarter-mile away minutes later.

Holbrook remains in custody at the Robert Presley Jail in Riverside on $1 million bail.