A man convicted in the 2018 murder of a Palm Beach pantry chef received a sentence of more than 20 years in prison during a hearing May 6 at the Palm Beach County Courthouse in West Palm Beach.
Robert William Thompson appeared in court following his April 8 conviction for manslaughter in the February 2018 death of Stanley Parrales. An angler discovered Parrales’ body in a Wellington-area canal.
Jurors also found Thompson guilty of fraudulent use of a credit card and unlawful possession of a credit card.
Circuit Judge Sherri Collins sentenced Thompson to 10 years on the manslaughter offense, and to 10 years and nearly two months on each of the credit card-related charges, ordering that those sentences be served concurrently with each other and consecutive to the manslaughter sentence.
Thompson, 45, received eight years of time served in the Palm Beach County Jail while awaiting trial, meaning that he will spend about 12 years in state prison. Collins appointed a public defender to represent Thompson for the purposes of an appeal.
Mental competency hearings delayed trial in chef’s murder
The case faced delays after Thompson was deemed incompetent to face trial and was ordered to undergo multiple mental-health evaluations.
In September 2024, the courts deemed Thompson mentally fit to stand trial and the case was returned to the court’s trial division.
Prosecutors sought to convict Thompson of second-degree murder after investigators alleged he killed Parrales in February 2018, dumped the body in a canal near Big Blue Trace and used Parrales’ credit cards and car before being tracked down by Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office deputies weeks later.
At the time of his arrest, sheriff’s investigators alleged that Thompson killed Parrales after the two men met for drinks at the Old Key Lime House in Lantana.
Parrales prepared salads and cold foods at Club Colette on Peruvian Avenue in Palm Beach. Its owner described him as “the kindest, gentlest soul” and said he had never missed a day of work in more than a decade on the job.
The angler recovered Parrales’ remains more than two weeks after he was reported missing from his Lake Worth Beach-area home. Thompson’s arrest report did not include a cause of death.
Julius Whigham II covers northern Palm Beach County and public safety for The Palm Beach Post. You can reach him at jwhigham@pbpost.com and follow him on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, at @JuliusWhigham. Help support our work: Subscribe today.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: 2018 murder of Palm Beach Club Colette chef sends friend to prison
Reporting by Julius Whigham II, Palm Beach Post / Palm Beach Post
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