Man Accused Of Killing Fiancée Admits Sleeping Next To Corpse, Driving It To Walmart

A Florida man accused of killing his fiancée has confessed to sleeping next to her corpse before abandoning the body in a pickup truck at a Walmart parking lot.

Officers responded to a Walmart store in Sebastian Tuesday after a woman, who looked deceased, was spotted in the passenger side of a parked pickup truck, Police Chief Daniel Acosta said in a video statement posted on Sebastian Police Department's Facebook page.

The suspect, 56-year-old Michael John Despres, was present at the scene when the cops arrived. He gave them "cryptic accounts" about the victim's whereabouts at the parking lot before the officers discovered the body of the victim, 67-year-old Jeanine Bishop.

"Upon being interviewed by Sebastian detectives, he confessed to killing Ms. Bishop in their shared residence and later transporting her body to the parking lot of Walmart, where he staged the incident," Acosta added.

Despres told investigators he was angry with Bishop and he had been thinking about killing her for days, according to the New York Post. He grabbed a weapon made of rope and walked up behind Bishop, who was sitting in a kitchen chair, Monday. He then strangled her.

The suspect later moved Bishop's body to their bed and slept next to it that night. The following morning, Despres changed Bishop's clothes and put her corpse in her Chevy Silverado. He then drove the body to the Walmart parking lot and left the truck, reported WPEC.

Despres rode his bicycle, which he kept on the rear of his pickup truck, back to his Sebastian home. He then took his vehicle and drove to the Dollar Tree store. From there, he walked back to the Walmart. Once inside, he told a store manager there was an emergency involving his fiancée at the parking lot.

Investigators reportedly found signs of strangulation around Bishop's neck as well as noticeable red spots close to her eyes.

Friends and neighbors told Sebastian Daily that Bishop was in an abusive relationship with Despres.

"You would often see Janine riding her bike around the neighborhood. She was a lovely woman who also helped others. It is tragic; she didn't deserve this," a neighbor told the outlet.

Despres was booked into the Indian River County Jail and is being held without bail. Police are investigating the incident.