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REDLANDS, Calif. (KTLA) — The man who allegedly killed his neighbors at a California nudist resort last August reportedly did so over a hot dog.
Michael Sparks, 62, allegedly killed Daniel Menard, 79, and Stephanie Menard, 73, in August 2024. Human remains were found under Sparks’ home at the Olive Dell Ranch Nudist Resort, according to investigators.
Those remains were later determined to belong to Daniel and Stephanie Menard, and Sparks was charged in the couple’s murder.
Sparks and the Menards did not get along, but as detailed in a court hearing Monday, the final straw was a hot dog, the Press-Enterprise reports.
A fellow inmate at the West Valley Detention Center reported to authorities that Sparks admitted to the killings and disclosed that he brutally beat the couple with a rake, a hoe, and a hammer, Redlands police Detective Thomas Williams testified.
“[The other inmate] said Mr. Sparks told him the incident started over a hot dog that Daniel Menard had purchased for him,” Williams said. “He said Mr. Sparks felt that the hot dog was a jab at him, making him feel like he was worth only a dollar hot dog, and that’s what set him off that day.”
He also admitted to drowning the Menard’s dog, Cuddles, in a sink, Williams testified.
Additionally, Sparks allegedly admitted to the killings in text messages.
When a former coworker checked in on him amid the search at Olive Dell, he confirmed to her that he was the subject of the search and that he planned on killing himself that day. Prosecutors say Sparks tried, but his gun jammed.
“Chopped up my neighbors,” he allegedly wrote. “Didn’t know I had it in me. SNAPPED.”