Sebastian man guilty of killing fiancée, staging body in truck in Walmart parking lot

VERO BEACH — A former owner of a Sebastian handyman business who in 2021 told detectives he plotted to kill his fiancée days before he strangled her, was ordered Monday to serve life in prison.

Michael Despres, 58, who entered court wearing red jail garb and chained at his wrists, waist, and ankles, had faced the death penalty before he pleaded no contest in January to one count of first-degree premeditated murder with a weapon.

He’s been held without bond at the Indian River County Jail since his arrest Oct. 5, 2021, records show.

Prosecutors said Despres strangled Jeanine Bishop, 67, Oct. 4, 2021 at her home in the 400 block of Briarcliff Circle, Sebastian, the day before he carried out a scheme to report finding her body in her truck in the Sebastian Walmart parking lot. Police discovered her there, dead, inside a black Chevrolet Silverado.

Sebastian police found Bishop in the passenger seat of her truck parked in the east side of the store's front lot after Despres walked into Walmart, 2001 U.S. 1, at about 7:45 a.m. on Oct. 5, 2021 and told a manager of an "emergency involving his fiancée in the parking lot," a report stated.

A Walmart manager called 911.

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A medical examiner later found ligature marks on Bishop’s neck and a 2-inch laceration "consistent with strangulation."

Three of Bishop’s relatives who attended Despres’ sentencing, didn’t speak in court and declined to comment afterwards.

'Admitted strangling' Bishop

When officers encountered Despres at the Walmart scene, records show he agreed to speak with investigators at the Sebastian police agency.

During a video recorded interview, Despres initially stated he had come to Walmart to check on Bishop after she had failed to return from a shopping trip.

Despres claimed that morning he received a call from Bishop who said she had picked up a hitchhiker. When he found her unresponsive in her truck, Despres said that’s when he went inside Walmart seeking help.

“He thought the hitchhiker may have done something to the victim,” Detective Kenneth McDonough reported Despres writing in a statement.

Despres also admitted "he had been angry at (Bishop) and had been contemplating killing her for several days prior to her death.

"Despres admitted strangling Bishop from behind with the garrote — which he had made out of rope tied to two handles — while she sat in a kitchen chair around 7:30 p.m. Monday,” McDonough reported.

He admitted making the weapon from items in his workshop.

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Despres told detectives he placed her body on a bed in the home's master bedroom, and he slept in the same bed until about 5:30 a.m., the next day.

Then, Despres said, he drove his van to Walmart, rode his bicycle 2½ miles back home and drove Bishop's truck back to Walmart. He moved his van to a nearby Dollar Tree parking lot before walking back to Walmart to report an emergency to a store manager.

Walmart surveillance, McDonough noted, "clearly depict(ed)" everything Despres said under questioning.

Bishop owned the home in the gated Ashbury community, off County Road 512, since it was built in 2013, county records show.

Despres, who lived with Bishop, had a business he operated until 2019 called Purrfection Handyman Services, LLC registered at Bishop’s address, according to state records.

Death penalty dropped

Before Chief Circuit Judge Charles “Tony” Schwab sentenced Despres, his older brother, James Despres, addressed the court about traumatic brain injuries.

“This is a terrible tragedy for everybody involved,” he said. “The justice system and the law enforcement need to recognize traumatic brain injuries as a valid reason for why a person without a history of violence could end up in a situation like this.”

Traumatic brain injuries, James Despres noted, “have come to the forefront in a number of high-profile murder cases.”

“People really aren't themselves when they have these injuries. Yes, it seems as though they're functioning and they're doing things as they should. But they're not,” he said. “They're not making reasonable decisions and their judgment is off.”

After court, Assistant State Attorney Brian Workman said he was aware Despres may have suffered a traumatic brain injury in the past.

“He did mention during the investigation that he had fallen off a ladder a few years ago and had had a brain injury or a head injury,” Workman said. “That was something we expect would have been explored by the defense had the case gone to trial.”

Before the state agreed to drop the death penalty against Despres, Workman said prosecutors consulted with Bishop’s family members, who wanted “swift justice.”

“In every case where the death penalty is an issue, we carefully consider the aggravating and mitigating circumstances along with the facts of the case and input from the victim's family, next of kin, friends,” he said. “The next of kin was very clear that they did not want to see a trial in this case … and felt it was appropriate that Mr. Despres receive every day of the rest of his life in prison.”

Despres’ lawyer, Assistant Public Defender Dorothy Naumann, called the situation “tragic for both sides,”

“The case originated as one where the state sought the death penalty, so our main focus has always been to avoid that penalty,” she said.

Melissa E. Holsman is the legal affairs reporter for TCPalm and Treasure Coast Newspapers and is writer and co-host of  Uncertain Terms, a true crime podcast. Reach her at  melissa.holsman@tcpalm.com.  If you are a subscriber, thank you. If not, become a subscriber to get the latest local news on the Treasure Coast.

This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Jeanine Bishop killed in 2021, body found in truck at Walmart lot