Real Murders of Orange County: How did Elizabeth Palmer and Matthew Scott die? 

Elizabeth Palmer and Matthew Scott, co-workers at a family-owned mobile home sales business, Golden Sun Homes in Stanton, were shot to death at their workplace in February 2009. The crime scene was discovered by Scott's father shortly before noon. Elizabeth's brand new car was also missing from the scene.

With little to no leads, the investigation dragged on for months, until authorities were able to locate the victim's stolen car and linked a man named Hilbert Thomas to the vehicle and the murder weapon, ultimately leading to an arrest. Authorities later alleged that Thomas, a real estate agent, committed the double homicide to steal the victim's car. He was found guilty of multiple counts of murder and robbery.

The Real Murders of Orange County revisits the brutal shooting deaths of Elizabeth Palmer and Matthew Scott in an episode titled Driven to Kill. The synopsis states:

"When two loyal employees at a family-owned mobile home business are gunned down at work, detectives are left with no hints toward a motive; a hunt for a missing car reveals a killer driven by old-school Orange County, Calif., intentions."

The episode aired on Oxygen this Friday, June 2, 2023.

---

Co-workers Elizabeth Palmer and Matthew Scott were shot execution-style at the Golden Sun Homes sales office

Elizabeth Palmer, 49, was a finance manager at Golden Sun Homes in Stanton, Orange County, California. Matthew Scott, 42, was her co-worker and the son of the co-owner of the same company, Don Scott. The Costa Meca resident reportedly worked as a sales associate.

In the morning hours of February 2, 2009, Palmer purchased a brand new white 2004 Lexus GS 300 and drove it to her sales office at 12331 Beach Blvd. Afterwards, Don Scott, who stopped by the office, stumbled upon a gruesome crime scene, finding the bodies of both Elizabeth and his son Matthew.

Police arrived at the scene and declared both victims dead from gunshot wounds to their heads. While there were no signs of struggle at the scene, they found Elizabeth’s new car missing and issued a BOLO (be on the lookout) as part of the double murder investigation.

With little evidence and leads, no suspects were named in the shootings of Elizabeth Palmer and Matthew Scott. Interviews with the victims' families only proved that that fateful day was nothing out-of-the-ordinary. The only lead was the missing car, but there was no sign of it either.

---

Months later, the stolen car linked a real estate agent to Elizabeth Palmer and Matthew Scott's double homicide

In October 2009, eight months after the shooting deaths of Elizabeth Palmer and Matthew Scott, a police officer was able to locate the the former's stolen Lexus in an El Dorado Inn parking lot in Anaheim. This discovery boosted the investigation.

Moreover, a few days later, a real estate agent named Hilbert Thomas voluntarily turned over his 9 mm handgun to authorities after his ex-wife filed a restraining order against him. As part of it, he was ordered to submit any and all firearms to the police.

Investigators were able to link the stolen Lexus to Thomas. This information was later corroborated by fingerprints and DNA inside the vehicle. Witnesses also claimed to have seen him driving around in the stolen car days after the double murder.

Thomas was only arrested after forensics declared that the gun he surrendered was the same one used to shoot Elizabeth Palmer and Matthew Scott months ago. They also found that the suspect resided about one-and-a-half blocks from the crime scene.

In April 2010, Hilbert Thomas was then charged with multiple counts of robbery and murder. Authorities alleged that on the morning of February 2, 2009, he entered Golden Sun Homes, forced Elizabeth and Matthew to their knees before shooting them execution-style and stealing the Lexus.

Thomas was produced in court in 2014 and found guilty of committing the double homicide. He was later sentenced to death for his crimes.