Florida Woman Hides Roommates Body To Collect Benefits

Earlier this week, a Florida woman confessed to hiding her dead roommate’s body so she could collect his social security benefits.

Back in July, when Michelle Haney, 48, found her roommate Jon Leonard, 39, dead in their Bradenton mobile home, she hid his body “first in a closet and then in a neighbor’s trash bin,”  according to Heavy.

The body remained in a closet for three weeks until the smell became too unbearable. Haney was then prompted to move the decaying corpse to a neighbors trash bin.

According to the New York Post, Haney informed the neighbors she would be back to retrieve the trash bin, but after three months, she never returned.

Authorities stated the neighbor “thought the sealed trash can contained that person’s personal items and was waiting for them to come back for it. ” On Tuesday, December 8, the neighbor finally decided to open the bin in which they discovered a very grotesque smell, described as “suspicious” to police.

Authorities were called, and when they arrived, they discovered the “55-gallon trash can contained Leonard’s body [and was] ‘in an advanced stage of decomposition.’”

A press release issued by the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office noted that Haney’s motive was to receive Leonard’s social security benefits. The fraud charges she may face for this are forthcoming. She has already been charged with abuse of a dead human body.