Florida Woman Hid Roommate's Body in Order to Collect His Social Security Benefits.
People are really doing unspeakable things for money!
A Florida woman is behind bars today after authorities say she concealed the death of her roommate in order to collect his money!
Michelle Haney, 49, was arrested Wednesday after the body of Jon Christopher Leonard was found near the trailer park at Windmill Manor in Bradenton.
Police say that Haney and Leonard were roommates. According to reports, Haney told police that she discovered him dead in their residence back in July of this year.
Instead of calling the Sheriff’s Office she stored his body in a closet and is accused of putting his body inside a trash can, sealed it up, and took it to a neighbor’s residence. She told the neighbor, who was unaware of what was inside, that she’d be back to pick it up later.
It was that neighbor who, after storing the trashcan for months, decided to take a peek inside. He allegedly opened the trashcan and noticed a foul smell. The smell was so bad that he walked away and left the trashcan for two more weeks. The affidavit says that the neighbor closed the lid again and left the trash can alone for two more weeks. After some time had passed he decided to throw out the contents of the trashcan.
“He then dumped the contents of the garbage can out and started putting the blankets and clothes into black trash bags,” the affidavit says. “As he did so, he saw a human hand and arm and immediately called law enforcement.”
Completely shocked with what they found, the neighbor rushed to call the police.
When questioned about her possible motive for not reporting the death, Haney admitted to deputies that she did this in order to continuing using his social security benefits after he died.
The judge set a bond of $50,000 for Haney. Haney’s attorney’s asked for supervised release, but the court referenced a criminal past and failure to appear. The autopsy on Leonard has not been concluded at this time. Haney was charged with Abuse of a Dead Human Body but federal fraud charges could possibly be added.
