Son faces 1st-degree murder charge

Accused of beating his father to death

A violent encounter between a 44year-old Wellington man and his father this week led to the father’s death and the son’s arrest on a murder charge, according to a Palm Beach County Sheriff ’s Office report made public Tuesday, Feb. 6.

Brian John McGann Jr. is facing a first-degree murder charge in the Sunday, Feb. 4, beating death of Brian McGann, Sr. at his home in suburban Lake Worth Beach. The county Medical Examiner’s Office said the elder McGann’s death was a homicide caused by blunt force trauma.

During a hearing on Tuesday, Feb. 6, at the Palm Beach County Jail, Circuit Judge Donald Hafele assigned Brian McGann, Jr. a public defender and ordered that he be held without bail. As a policy, the county Public Defender’s Office does not comment on active cases.

Investigators say the elder McGann was found dead shortly after 11 p.m. after deputies responded to a call regarding a disturbance at a home on the 100 block of West Palmetto Road in suburban Lake Worth Beach. The younger McGann was found hiding nearby.

According to a PBSO report, a person described Brian McGann Jr. as a “delusional conspiracy theorist.” The person said the younger McGann had become upset because his father had received a vaccine.

Investigators say a woman who described herself as a family friend called 911 after Brian McGann Jr. made a remark to her over the telephone about his father being “under my foot.” The caller described hearing Brian McGann Sr. cry out for help and said that the younger McGann appeared to be intoxicated and paranoid.

When deputies arrived at the home, they found Brian McGann Sr. lying on the living floor unresponsive and covered in blood. Palm Beach County Fire Rescue paramedics pronounced him dead at the scene. Investigators redacted the elder man’s age from their report.

Deputies reported seeing Brian McGann Jr. jump over a fence and into the backyard of a neighboring home. When deputies found him, they saw that he had blood on his hands, feet, face and clothing.

The family friend told investigators that Brian McGann Jr. called her northern Florida home multiple times Sunday, with their conversations totaling about three hours.

The woman said he called her at about 10:30 p.m. Sunday and frantically requested that she pack her belongings and leave her residence because “he was going to be dead.”

The younger McGann reportedly told the friend that law enforcement was chasing him, then admitted it wasn’t, PBSO reported.

Shortly after 11 p.m., McGann Jr. told the woman he was pulling up to his father’s residence. The woman said she received another call a short time later and overheard the younger McGann