Life without parole: Man pleads guilty to killing 2 relatives on July 4 weekend near West palm Beach
WEST PALM BEACH — A 57-year-old suburban West Palm Beach man has received a life sentence without the possibility of parole after he pleaded guilty to killing two family members this past July.
Guillermo Silva pleaded to two counts each of first-degree murder and sexual battery and one count of attempted first-degree murder during a hearing Wednesday before Circuit Judge Daliah Weiss.
Weiss sentenced Silva to consecutive life terms on all five charges.
The sentence comes less than three months after Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office investigators alleged that Silva killed two relatives and assaulted another person on the night of July 2 in a home on the 500 block of Cherry Road, near Osceola Drive and just north of Palm Beach International Airport.
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PBSO did not disclose the names of the victims, citing a 2018 state constitutional amendment that allows crime victims or their families to invoke their rights to privacy.
During Wednesday's hearing, other relatives of the victims addressed the court, and Assistant Public Defender Crystal Kim read a statement on Silva's behalf.
Deputies responding on the night of the attack found a man dead in the living room with severe blunt force trauma to his face. They also found a woman unclothed and dead in a bedroom with severe blunt force trauma to her torso, arms and face.
Another man told PBSO investigators Silva attacked him when he went to the home to drop off money to help the other two occupants pay their bills.
The man said he tried to call from his car when he arrived but did not receive an answer. He honked his horn and Silva came outside, directing him to enter through the side door.
After the man entered, Silva approached him from behind and held a knife to his throat, investigators said.
"I am going to (expletive) kill you," he reportedly told the man.
The man fought back and took Silva's knife. Silva then confessed to killing to the other two occupants, according to the arrest report.
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At the time of Silva's arrest, PBSO described the incident as domestic-related, saying that he and his victims were related, but did not specify how.
The man who confronted Silva told investigators that Silva had lived in the home for about a year with a woman, her children and her parents. The woman and all of the children, with the exception of one, were out of the country at the time of the attacks, the man told investigators.
Shortly after being taken into custody, Silva told investigators he has been drinking that day, leading to an argument with the home's other two occupants. He said he did not remember killing anyone or threatening the home's visitor.
Julius Whigham II is a criminal justice and public safety reporter for The Palm Beach Post. You can reach him at jwhigham@pbpost.com and follow him on Twitter at @JuliusWhigham. Help support our work: Subscribe today.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Man gets life in prison in July deaths of two relatives near PBIA
