Bradenton woman stashed body in trash to collect Social Security, deputies say

Michelle Haney, 48, said she came home to find roommate Jon Leonard dead. Instead of reporting the discovery, she hid his body, the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office said.

One day in July, investigators say, Michelle Haney came home to a grim discovery.

She found her 40-year-old roommate, Jon Christopher Leonard, dead in the home they shared at 5023 Windmill Manor Lane, in the Windmill Mobile Home Park off State Road 70, according to the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office.

Instead of reporting the discovery, Haney stashed Leonard’s body in a closet, then moved the body to a trash can, sealed it up, and left it at a next-door neighbor’s home, detectives say.

Her motive?

“She admitted to doing this so she could use his social security benefits after he died,” the Sheriff’s Office said in a news release Wednesday.

https://www.tampabay.com/news/crime/2020/12/10/bradenton-woman-stashed-body-in-trash-to-collect-social-security-deputies-say/

Mystery solved.