‘Heartbreaking.’ Laguna Beach man charged with beating mother to death with hammer

A Laguna Beach man was charged with killing his mother with a hammer inside his home last week, prosecutors said.

Safford James Wolfson, 36, ran a sober living and adult care facility in Rancho Palos Verdes with his 61-year-old mother, Angela Caprioli, per Linkedin.

On July 20, Laguna Beach Police Department officers arrived at Wolfson’s home after his grandmother discovered a grizzly scene: broken furniture and Wolfson covered in blood on the floor, according to prosecutors.

Caprioli was found in a bedroom with “severe blunt force injuries” to her head and face, according to a statement from Orange County Dist. Atty. Todd Spitzer.

Wolfson was hospitalized and treated for self-inflicted wounds to his neck, Spitzer said. Caprioli, who was visiting from Maine, was pronounced dead at the home.

Wolfson, currently held in lieu of $1 million bail, faces a maximum sentence of 26 years to life if convicted of a felony count of murder and a felony enhancement of using a deadly weapon.

“It is heartbreaking think that someone could so violently end the life of the very person who gave them life,” Spitzer said in the statement. “We will continue to pursue justice for Ms. Caprioli and everyone who loved her.”