Alleged B&B Killer's Wife Testifies

A murder victim was trying to steal the alleged killer's bed and breakfast, the defendant's wife testified today.

Louis Joseph DiBernardo, 60, of Menifee, was charged with murder stemming from a fatal conflict with his business partner.

To read about the allegations, .

Sherry DiBernardo, the wife of the defendant, took the stand today at the Southwest Justice Center in French Valley.

The prosecution argued the defendant killed the victim in retribution for a business deal gone bad during opening statements on Tuesday. To read about what was said,

Defense argued the shooting was in self-defense. To read about what was said,

The victim, Victor Borcherds, and his wife, Suzanne, were trying to steal "The Castle" bed-and-breakfast by driving the DiBernardos into financial ruin, then secretly negotiating with the DiBernardos' lender, Mission Oaks Bank, to buy the house, Sherry DiBernardo testified.

"They were determined to have the house in any way they could get it," she said.

The Borcherdses signed a deal in June 2009 to rent the B & B from the DiBernardos on the condition they run the business, the defendant's wife testified.

The two couples then made a new deal in November of 2009 so the Borcherdses would no longer pay rent, but they would buy the B & B from the couple on the condition they get a written guaranty from a third party, a friend of the Borcherdses, that the renting couple was able to pay, the wife said on the stand today.

"Then your worries would be over, right?" defense attorney Rick Layon asked the wife. "Yes," she answered.

The couple then failed to get the written guarantee, and they stopped making rent payments, Sherry DiBernardo said. The Borcherdses even disconnected a credit card machine they were supposed to use to process payments from guests of the B & B, which sent the money into the DiBernardo's account, she testified.

"(Victor Borcherds) was not cooperating with that at all," she said.

The couple also went behind the DiBernardo's back and started negotiating with , which lent the DiBernardos the money to build the B & B, Sherry DiBernardo said.

With no payments to buy The Castle coming in, and no rental payments, the DiBernardos' already-bad financial situation worsened. "Everything was falling apart," she said.

The Borcherdses also told the DiBernardos they made $200,000 of improvements to the B & B and demanded to be paid back, the defendant's wife said.The Borcherdses sued the DiBernardos in January of 2010 to hold them to the November, 2009, contract, the defendant's wife testified.

The Borcherdses lost millions in Utah in the 1980s when they violated state loaning regulations, and their assets were seized by state regulators. Several companies the Borcherdses formed then declared bankruptcy, according to the Desert News, a Utah newspaper.