Dentist Allegedly Said He Hated His Parents — Then Killed His Mom at Beverly Hills Mansion. Now He Learns Fate By Christine Pelisek

A Los Angeles dentist convicted of killing his mother was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole on Friday, Oct. 3, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office confirmed to PEOPLE.

Daniel Yacobi was found guilty in August of strangling his 67-year-old mother Violet to death at her Beverly Hills mansion in 2017.

Prosecutors said he killed the wealthy widow to inherit a share of her $12 million estate.

The case came to light on Oct. 10, 2017, when Violet’s brother grew concerned after she didn’t respond to a call about driving her to the mechanic for her car.

It was out of character for the woman, who was nearing the end of a year-long period of mourning her husband Solomon, a physician who died in 2016.

That evening, Violet was found dead on the marble floor near the foot of the grand staircase in the $8 million home.

On what would have been her 68th birthday on Jan. 8, 2018, Daniel wrote on Facebook: “I know you and Dad are up there smiling down on us.”

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The sudden death of the quiet widow saddened friends and neighbors, but what followed sent the family into a state of shock.

On Feb. 12, 2018, Daniel was arrested and later charged with murdering his mother after a coroner ruled her death a homicide.

“He choked the life out of her,” L.A. County Deputy District Attorney Shane Michael said during opening statements at Daniel’s trial on July 21, 2025, following years of delay. “[He] left her there in her home — the home he lived in as a young person going to high school and when he graduated from college.”

During the trial, Dean Summers, the brother of one of Daniel’s neighbors, testified that Daniel was deeply depressed.

“He told me [his parents] pushed him into dentistry, and that he hated being in dentistry, and that his mother was very controlling,” Summers said. “He said he hated his mother and he hated his father.”

Family friend Joseph Mamalinger previously told law enforcement that weeks before Violet’s death Daniel asked him: “Hey, what do you know about inheritance tax?”

Mamalinger allegedly told police he answered, “I think your mom is healthy. Why are you asking me that?”

Mamalinger said Daniel then became flushed and left.

Prosecutors also noted that Daniel had searched online, “does the choke hold create a bruise?”

Daniel’s defense attorney, however, argued that Violet died from blunt force trauma from falling from the second-story balcony.

He was found guilty of murder on Aug. 22.