Financial 'adviser' swindled Palm Beach County couple out of millions. Here's the price he'll pay.
David Del Rio endeared himself to Billy and Betty Cabral of Highland Beach. Then millions of dollars began disappearing from their accounts.
Hannah PhillipsWEST PALM BEACH — Five years after police found an elderly Highland widow stabbed to death in her bedroom, someone close to her has gone to prison — but not for the murder.
David Del Rio, 39, slowly emptied the bank accounts of Betty and Billy Cabral during his tenure as their self-appointed "financial adviser," stealing millions to spend on home improvements, cruise tickets, cars and $50,000 worth of firearms and silencers for himself and his family, detectives said.
The Lee County man's crimes came to light over the course of an investigation into Betty Cabral’s murder, which remains open. It's believed to be one of two murders in the 74-year history of Highland Beach, an oceanfront town between Boca Raton and Delray Beach.
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Del Rio maintained a plea of not guilty until the eve of his trial, which was slated to begin this month. He faced 75 counts punishable by more than 1,000 years in prison, but earned a fraction of the penalty thanks to a plea deal negotiated by defense attorney Michael Salnick and Assistant State Attorney Aleathea McRoberts.
Cabral's family agreed to the resolution but wished the worst for Del Rio when given a chance to speak at his sentencing hearing March 2, Salnick said. Circuit Judge Jeffrey Gillen sentenced Del Rio to 15 years in prison and 15 years of probation after that.
Elderly couple named financial adviser their sole beneficiary
Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office investigators said Betty and Billy Cabral moved to Palm Beach County from Boston in 1996 and retired to Highland Beach in 2012. They met Del Rio at a bank where they transferred their wealth, accrued over a lifetime of frugal spending and astute investments. He embedded himself in their lives, investigators said, earning their trust before exploiting it.
Del Rio, then 31, began siphoning money from their accounts in 2014 — the year Billy Cabral's doctor diagnosed him with Alzheimer’s disease. His condition worsened quickly.
By 2015, when Cabral could no longer remember to wash his hands or brush his teeth, he and his wife named Del Rio their sole beneficiary. Salnick said he was like a son to the Cabrals, who had no children of their own but kept a photo of Del Rio's in their home.
A former nurse for the Cabrals and friends of Del Rio testified in 2018 that he was more than a fiduciary to the couple — he was a close personal friend. He crossed the line, said then-Assistant State Attorney Brian Fernandes, violating the couple in what should have been their "golden years" and stripping them of their life savings.
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Financial adviser wrote checks in Billy Cabral's name even after Cabral died
Del Rio continued to write checks to himself in Billy Cabral's name a year the 88-year-old man's death in 2017. Betty Cabral and her family discussed her "unexplained dwindling monies," investigators wrote, but never reported it to authorities.
A welfare check on 85-year-old Betty Cabral on April 18, 2018, led Highland Beach Police to the bedroom of her fifth-floor condominium, where they found her stabbed to death. They found her car, stolen and abandoned with the keys inside, west of Pompano Beach.
Police arrested Del Rio about five months after the stabbing on dozens of charges related to exploitation of an elderly person, money laundering and grand theft.
Members of the Cabral and Del Rio families could not be reached for comment. The investigation into Cabral's murder remains open and active, PBSO spokesperson Teri Barbera said Thursday, adding that detectives haven't eliminated anyone as a suspect.
Hannah Phillips is a journalist covering public safety and criminal justice at The Palm Beach Post. You can reach her at hphillips@pbpost.com.