Turlock property owner charged with murder in shooting of alleged trespasser

Investigators on Friday morning arrested a 60-year-old man on suspicion of murder in connection with the 2013 shooting of a 25-year-old man reportedly caught trespassing on the suspect’s property.

Robin Duane Boyer was being held without bail at the Stanislaus County jail on Friday afternoon. He is accused of shooting Brandon Pacheco.

The young man was found dead on the edge of a sweet potato field shortly before 8 a.m. July 23, 2013. Police have said Pacheco suffered gunshot wounds to his head.

Boyer was arrested during a traffic stop in the 2700 block of West Main Street in Turlock. He was taken into custody without incident.

Turlock police officers found Pacheco after they responded to a report of a shooting at a home in the 1100 block of Dianne Drive, a rural area just west of Highway 99 and south of Fulkerth Road in Turlock.

Boyer told investigators he had caught Pacheco trespassing on his property and stealing his possessions. An altercation allegedly ensued and Boyer shot Pacheco in the head. Boyer also told investigators that he had seen Pacheco trespassing on private property on several occasions before the shooting.

Pacheco’s family has told The Modesto Bee that it did not know why the young man was in that area, and the family does not know Boyer. The family said Pacheco, who attended Hilmar High School, worked on and off for his father’s construction firm and that he never would hurt anyone.

His sister has said that even though he has been in trouble with the law in the past, his acts did not warrant a death sentence. Pacheco pleaded guilty to a theft charge and was sent to a deferment program for drug treatment a few months before the shooting, according to his sister.

Turlock police have said Pacheco was convicted of theft in March 2013 and had been arrested in early July 2013 on suspicion of burglary.

Police investigators submitted their investigation to the Stanislaus County District Attorney’s Office, so prosecutors could determine whether there was any wrongdoing. Prosecutors filed a criminal complaint against Boyer on Thursday, but the defendant’s arraignment hearing had not yet been scheduled.

This story was originally published March 6, 2015 at 4:30 PM with the headline "Turlock property owner charged with murder in shooting of alleged trespasser."