By Samantha Berlin
Writer, Trends
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A Florida man confessed Tuesday afternoon to killing his 67-year-old fiancee at their home and driving her body to a local Walmart parking lot.
Sebastian Police responded to a Walmart parking lot Tuesday at 7:46 a.m. after reports of a possibly deceased woman in a vehicle. According to a statement from Police Chief Daniel Acosta, when officers arrived at the scene they discovered a woman dead inside a black Chevrolet pickup truck.
The victim was identified as 67-year-old Jeanine Bishop from Sebastian, Florida. According to Acosta, Bishop's fiancee Michael Despres, 56, was at the Walmart when detectives questioned him.
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Several studies show that many women are murdered by intimate partners including boyfriends, fiancees and husbands. According to the Violence Policy Center, about two in five female victims are murdered by an intimate partner. Intimate partner homicide is defined by the National Institute of Justice as "the killing of a spouse, ex-spouse, boyfriend, or girlfriend."
A study published in the NIJ Journal said, "the risk of intimate partner homicide is highest when a victim of domestic abuse tries to leave the relationship." It is still unclear what led to the homicide.
Although the amount of intimate partner homicides has decreased over the years, experts believe there are numerous factors that explain that number. But many still warn that the amount of intimate partner homicides is still too high.
Authorities said Despres gave "cryptic" accounts of Bishop's whereabouts before police located her in the parking lot. In a statement, Acosta said this raised suspicion for investigators, and Despres was interviewed by detectives.
"Upon being interviewed by Sebastian Detectives, he confessed to killing Ms. Bishop in a shared residence and later transported her body to the parking lot of Walmart where he staged the incident," Acosta said.
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The investigation is ongoing and evidence is currently being collected from the shared residence, Despres' workplace, and both Bishop's and Despres' cars, according to police. The motive is still unclear.
Witnesses told WPTV they saw a body being loaded onto a stretcher outside of the black pickup.
"About six people [were] looking at that truck," a shopper told WPTV. "There was something in that truck, and we didn't know if the person was dead or just lying in there, but they wouldn't let us get very close," said shopper Chuck Tranfhelia.
Despres was booked into the Indian River County Jail in Florida and is being charged for premeditated first-degree murder.
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