A Florida woman has been accused of stabbing her 76-year-old roommate to death, covering his body with a tarp and fleeing the scene in his truck.
Shannon Rose Giblin, 48, was arrested after she confessed to stabbing her roommate, military veteran Paul De Wayne Bradley, at his home in Punta Gorda, about 55 miles south of Sarasota, on Sunday, authorities said.
Deputies were originally called to Bradley’s home after receiving a report of a person not breathing. There, they found Bradley “deceased and beyond help,” the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office said.
Authorities discovered Bradley’s car had been missing from his home and tracked it to Sarasota County, where they discovered Giblin with the vehicle and detained her.
During questioning, Giblin confessed to stabbing Bradley following an argument, the sheriff’s office said.
“After realizing that the victim was beyond help, Giblin then covered Bradley with a tarp and left the scene in the victim’s pickup truck,” the sheriff’s office said.
Giblin was arrested and charged with murder (not premeditated) and grand theft of a motor vehicle. She is currently being held in jail without bond.
News of Bradley’s death shocked residents of Charlotte Ranchettes, Florida, the quiet neighborhood where he lived.
“He was a veteran. He went through wars and came back, he survived a heart attack not long ago, and then this is what takes his life. Nobody deserves that,” neighbor Jody Scharping told WINK News.
Scharping said Bradley even mentored her son, who described the victim as someone who was always kind, especially to his neighbors.
“He was a super nice guy. Always bought me lunch. I worked with him a lot. I helped him clean out all the sheds,” her son, Parker Daigle, told the outlet. “Nobody hated him. He was just a super nice dude. I didn’t think anybody would ever do that to him.”
Bradley had lived in the home with his wife until she died a few years ago. More recently, he had a woman move in with him to help him around the house, the neighbors said.
“From my understanding, things weren’t going really well…but he was gonna, I guess, evict her that day, and then that happened, so I’m assuming something didn’t go right,” Scharping said.
A friend of Bradley’s, Adam LaFleur, told Gulf Coast News that Giblin had claimed to be an at-home caregiver and had only lived with Bradley for a week before he died.
“Within two or three days, she started doing some strange things. She lied to him about a few things,” LaFleur said. “He caught that right away.”
LaFleur said Bradley told Giblin she had to leave, prompting the argument.
Giblin’s family apologized for the killing in a statement to Gulf Coast News, saying their hearts are “deeply saddened by this inconceivable tragedy.”
“We can only imagine the pain you're feeling. And words can hardly express how heartbroken we are and how very sincerely we apologize that this has been thrust upon you. We are so very sorry,” the statement said in part.
