Delivery driver found guilty of killing woman, setting her on fire

A Palm Beach judge convicted an appliance delivery man of murder and other charges Wednesday for beating a 75-year-old woman to death and setting her on fire at her home in Boca Raton in 2019.

Circuit Judge Daliah Weiss rendered her decision with no delay after closing arguments in the case of Jorge Dupre Lachazo, 24, who rejected his right to a jury trial and instead left his fate in the judge’s hands. The bench trial lasted three days.

Lachazo faces a mandatory life sentence and other sentences for related charges, including burglary with a weapon and arson. Palm Beach State Attorney’s Office spokesman Marc Freeman said prosecutors will ask the judge for consecutive terms when Lachazo is sentenced April 5.

The trial was already a partial victory for Lachazo because it took the death penalty off the table. Prosecutors agreed to a bench trial after consulting the family of the victim.

Lachazo and another man delivered a washer and dryer purchased from Best Buy to Evelyn Smith Udell’s home in August 2019. After installing the appliances, the other man went outside and reported hearing screams minutes later. He called 911 after found blood on the floor and smelled smoke coming from the laundry room where the new appliances were being installed.

Lachazo told police he used a mallet to strike the woman and paint thinner to start the fire. Both were next to Udell, who died the next day at a hospital. Prosecutors said both had Dupre Lachazo’s fingerprints on them. Investigators also found that the woman’s wallet had been disturbed, suggesting theft as a motive for the attack.

Defense attorneys didn’t deny that Dupre Lachazo attacked the older woman but argued the slaying wasn’t premeditated or intentional.

COURTESY Jorge Dupre Lachazo, 24, was convicted Wednesday of first-degree murder, burglary and arson.