Tuesday afternoon, a Florida man confessed to killing his 67-year-old fiancee at their home and transporting her body to a nearby Walmart parking lot.
Body of Jeanine Bishop, 67, of Sebastian, was found in a Black Chevrolet Silverado Pick-up truck in Walmart parking lot early Tuesday Oct. 5, 2021. (Photo: TCPALM)
In Florida, a local handyman told detectives he planned to strangle his fiancee with a garrote he made days before. According to reports, he used a ruse to report finding her body in her truck at Walmart, where police discovered Jeanine Bishop, 67, dead Tuesday morning.
The Suspect
According to Indian River County Sheriff’s Office online booking records, Michael John Despres, 56, of Sebastian, was arrested and charged with first-degree murder on Tuesday.
Officers discovered Bishop’s body inside her black Chevrolet Silverado after Despres walked into Walmart at about 7:45 a.m. Tuesday, telling a manager of an “emergency involving his fiancee in the parking lot,” according to Detective Kenneth McDonough in a report.
According to the report, officers discovered her body in the truck’s passenger seat, which was parked on the east side of the store’s front lot. A ligature mark on her neck and a 2-inch laceration “consistent with strangulation” was discovered by a medical examiner.
Despres agreed to speak with detectives at the police station, according to police, and he was questioned around 11:30 a.m. Tuesday.
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Michael Despres admitted to killing his fiancée and leaving her body in her vehicle in a Walmart parking lot, police said. (Photo: Indian River County Sheriff’s Office)
‘Had Been Angry’
According to McDonough, Despres told them that “he had been angry with (Bishop) and had been contemplating killing her for several days prior to her death.”
According to the report, Despres admitted strangling Bishop from behind with the garrote he made out of rope tied to two handles while she sat in a kitchen chair around 7:30 p.m. Monday.
He told detectives that he put her body on a bed in the master bedroom and slept in the same room until about 5:30 a.m. Tuesday.
According to Despres, he drove his van to Walmart, rode his bicycle 2 1/2 miles home, and returned Bishop’s truck to Walmart. Before reporting the “emergency” to a Walmart store manager, he moved his van to a nearby Dollar Tree parking lot.
According to McDonough’s report, Walmart surveillance “clearly depicted(ed)” everything Despres said during questioning.
Despres was arrested and charged with premeditated first-degree murder at the Indian River County Jail in Florida.
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