A man was convicted of second-degree murder on Monday for the killing of a 74-year-old Palm Springs resident in which he drove a hatchet into his head eight times, according to NBC News.
Jason William Brokken, 52, will be sentenced on January 30. He had claimed self-defense in the January 21, 2012 death of Kenneth R. Moody at a home on Gem Drive. Moody’s body was discovered in a garbage bag in Sky Valley the next day. His body was found inside a garbage bag on the side of Rudderow Lane in Sky Valley the following day.
Brokken had just moved to Palm Springs from Santa Barbara a few weeks before Moody’s death. Prosecutors say he had visited the victim at his home and asked to use the shower, then killed Moody in his bedroom.
Prosecutors said Brokken tried to pin the murder on another man, but when physical and forensic evidence linked him to the killing, Brokken concocted a story of being sexually assaulted and attacked by Moody.
Brokken’s attorney said he did not make up the story of abuse, but did not immediately come forward with his claims because he was embarrassed about it being made public.
Read more at NBC News.
