Justin Hilbert Was Brutally Killed in June 2016 — His Murder Was Just the Beginning
"The amount of damage that was done, things that had been done to Justin, discovering that was heartbreaking, devastating."
Published Oct. 4 2024, 6:19 p.m. ET
Tonya Bischoff was looking forward to the life she was building with fiancé Justin Hilbert. The couple had welcomed their son into the world in December 2015 and were getting used to life as new parents. Hilbert had started a new job as a machinist and was learning new skills both at work and at home. Tony told CBS News that Hilbert was her soulmate, which is why his murder was so devastating for her.
She was trying to understand how someone could take the life of another person in such a violent fashion. "He meant everything to me," said Tonya. Beyond grieving the loss of her partner, Tonya was also mourning the life they would never know. Her son would never know his father. What happened to Justin Hilbert back in June 2016?
What happened to Justin Hilbert? He was brutally murdered.
Hilbert's body was found on the side of the road near Lake Mathews in Riverside County, Calif., around 2:15 a.m. on June 21. The 25-year-old had been beaten, shot in the face, and stabbed multiple times, reported The Press-Enterprise. Authorities believe Hilbert's body had been dumped there. "The amount of damage that was done, things that had been done to Justin, discovering that was heartbreaking, devastating," his brother Jesse Kirkendall told the outlet.
Kirkendall said as far as he knew, Hilbert didn't have any enemies. He was "finishing school and trying to provide a life for his family." Police would soon connect Hilbert's death to the murder of a woman who was also stabbed and left for dead. On July 10, 23-year-old Bailey Sharp was found at the corner of Calmhill Drive and California Avenue in Riverside. She was bleeding to death on the street when a good samaritan stopped to help. Sharp later died at the hospital, per The Press-Enterprise.
Police soon realized there was a connection between Hilbert and Sharp, and it was a man by the name of Jared Bischoff. Not only was he Sharp's boyfriend at the time, but Bischoff was Tonya's ex-husband. Could these two murders be related? It certainly seemed so.
Where is Jared Bischoff now?
On July 13, 2016, Bischoff was charged with kidnapping, first-degree murder, leading officers on a pursuit, and possessing methamphetamine. After Sharp died, authorities immediately began looking for the most obvious suspect: her boyfriend. They spotted his car at 5:15 a.m. on July 11, and attempted to pull him over when Bischoff sped off. After a brief pursuit, he was apprehended.
Police then obtained a search warrant where they learned that Hilbert and Sharp had been communicating with each other prior to his death. Tonya told investigators that Sharp had also reached out to her. "It was upsetting to me," Tonya shared. "She just messaged me out of the blue." A friend of Hilbert's also told police that he saw Hilbert and Sharp together mere weeks before his death.
Investigators also looked at Bischoff's phone and saw texts from Sharp that referenced selling drugs for him. She alluded to the fact that this was being done to help his financial troubles due to his divorce from Tonya. Bischoff was eventually found guilty of killing Sharp and was also convicted, along with another defendant, Danny Serrano, of murder, kidnapping, and conspiracy in Hilbert’s death. He is currently serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole at California's High Desert State Prison.
