Pool Serviceman Denies Killing 93-Year-Old Palm Desert Woman

PALM DESERT, CA — A 59-year-old self-employed pool serviceman accused of killing of a 93-year-old woman in Palm Desert pleaded not guilty Thursday to murder.

Benjamin Briones of Thousand Palms was arrested Friday near the intersection of Bob Hope and Frank Sinatra drives in Rancho Mirage and booked into the John Benoit Detention Center without bail, according to inmate records.

The Riverside County District Attorney's Office on Wednesday filed one felony count each of murder, burglary and forging a signature against Briones, who pleaded not guilty to the charges during his arraignment at the Larson Justice Center on Thursday.

The victim, Jean Grace Willrich, was found dead at her home in the 77000 block of Michigan Drive in Palm Desert after the Riverside County Sheriff's Department responded to a report of a suspicious death on Nov. 30.

Deputies arrived to find Willrich with signs of trauma to her body consistent with homicide, according to Sgt. Ed Baeza.

It was the second suspected homicide in the past month at the Palm Desert Country Club.

Edward Snyder of Palm Desert, 47, was found dead when deputies responded to a call of several shots fired in the 43000 block of Tennessee Avenue at 10:21 p.m. on Nov. 11. Deputies arrived to find the victim dead in the street with trauma that indicated a homicide. No arrests have been reported in that case.