Latest news with #MichaelRoyceSparks
The Sun
2 days ago
- The Sun
Neighbor ‘killed couple at nudist resort after fight over hot dog before dismembering them and burying them in basement'
A MAN accused of killing an elderly couple at a nudist resort confessed to murdering them over a hot dog, a court heard. Michael Royce Sparks, 62, is accused of beating to death Stephanie Mernard, 73, and her husband Daniel Menard, 79, with garden tools back in August. 5 5 The couple went missing from their home at RV park and nudist resort Olive Dell Ranch, Redlands, California. Their remains were discovered by cops a week later stuffed in bags in a concrete bunker beneath Sparks' home. This week, a detective told court that Sparks had admitted to multiple people that he killed the couple. He allegedly said the final straw was an argument over a hot dog. Testifying, Redlands detective Thomas Williams said Sparks told another inmate that Daniel had given him a hot dog, which he interpreted as an insult. The cop said: 'He said Mr Sparks felt that the hot dog was a jab at him, making him feel like he was worth only a dollar hot dog, and that's what set him off that day." Williams told the court Sparks had also confessed the crime to somebody outside the prison through texts and letters. He allegedly wrote: 'Chopped up my neighbors. Didn't know I had it in me. SNAPPED.' Sparks is accused of beating the couple to death with a rake, a hoe and a hammer. He also allegedly admitted drown their dog, Cuddles, in a sink. Huge breakthrough in gruesome murder of couple found dismembered and disemboweled with heads kept in fridge veg drawer Another neighbor told KABC that there was a long history of tension between Sparks and the Menards - which all began over a trimmed tree. The resident said the Menards pruned the tree after Sparks refused to - kicking off a bitter, years-long row. The neighbor Tammie Wilkerson said: 'I didn't think he'd ever be able to do something like this. 'I know he didn't like them, and he didn't have a problem telling people that, but I never thought he'd do this.' When a former co-worker reached out to Sparks during the investigation, he reportedly acknowledged he was the prime suspect and revealed he had planned to kill himself - but the gun jammed. The initial search for the couple lasted five days. At the time, cops said they searched Sparks' house because a neighbor reported that he had confessed to killing the pair. SWAT teams stormed his home and found him hiding beneath it in a bunker. Police had used a hydraulic battering ram, K9 teams, drones, and a helicopter to look for the couple. 5 5
Daily Mail
6 days ago
- Daily Mail
Nudist resort resident's 'hot dog taunt' on neighbor that ended in double murder
An elderly couple were killed and mutilated by their neighbor after being humiliated with a taunt about a hot dog, a court heard. Michael Royce Sparks, 62, is facing murder charges over the deaths of Stephanie Menard, 73, and Daniel Menard, 79, who were brutally killed at their nudist community, the Olive Dell Ranch, in Redlands, California. The couple were found in August 2024 underneath a concrete bunker at Sparks' home. At a Monday hearing for Sparks as he prepares to stand trial, a witness in their nudist community testified that the suspect and his alleged victims often argued and had a fraught relationship for some time before the killings. They said they lived next door to each other, and had clashed over issues including a tree overhanging the Menards' yard and a noisy generator. But the witness said the rift turned violent due to Sparks feeling humiliated after Menard bought him a $1 hot dog. The story was also told by a Redlands police officer who testified Monday that another inmate was told the same story by Sparks about how he snapped when he was bought the hot dog. 'He said Mr. Sparks told him the incident started over a hot dog that Daniel Menard had purchased for him,' Redlands police Detective Thomas Williams said. 'He said Mr. Sparks felt that the hot dog was a jab at him, making him feel like he was worth only a dollar hot dog, and that's what set him off that day.' Sparks 'went outside and struck Mr. Menard in the head until his head caved in', the Williams said, recalling the inmate's words. Michael's wife Stephanie then came outside yelling 'no, no', the detective said, leading Sparks to 'begin striking (her) and (Michael) with a rake, a hoe and a hammer'. The detective said the inmate at at West Valley Detention Center was told that Sparks then took the Menards to a concrete bunker he had built underneath his trailer, reports The Mercury News. He allegedly told fellow prisoners that he dismembered Stephanie and mutilated Michael, and during a search of his home police found body parts stuffed in plastic bags and a Home Depot bucket. Sparks also allegedly told other inmates that he drowned the Menards' Shih Tzu dog in a sink before leaving her on a hillside for coyotes to eat her. At the preliminary hearing on Monday, Sparks' attorney did not present a defense. A judge subsequently ruled that there is sufficient evidence for Sparks to stand trial for the murder of the couple, which he has pleaded not guilty to. Prosecutors have not yet said if they will seek the death penalty in the case. Many residents of the California nudist community where the alleged killer and his victims appeared at the hearing, with Sparks described as a popular figure in the community. The Menards were missing for four days before the case turned into a homicide investigation and a former co-worker of Sparks came forward with a stunning text Sparks had sent her the day of the killings. She said she recognized the nudist community where police were searching on the news, and texted Sparks: 'I am watching news. Something going on where you live. Are you in town?' According to texts shown in court on Monday, Sparks replied: 'It's me. Committing suicide today. Take care. Bye.' 'Wait. What's going on? Where are you?' she responded. 'Chopped up my neighbors. Didn't know I had it in me. SNAPPED,' Sparks said back. Cops then raced to Sparks' home, where they found him in his trailer bunker holding a long rifle. Sparks tried to shoot himself, but the rifle jammed, and when asked by cops where the Menards were, he said 'they were underneath the trailer and that they didn't need any help', Williams said in his testimony.
