A grisly double homicide at a Southern California nudist resort that rocked a quiet desert community reportedly occurred over a hot dog.
Man charged with double homicide
Michael Sparks, 62, now faces two counts of first-degree murder after police say he brutally killed his elderly neighbors, 79-year-old Daniel Menard and 73-year-old Stephanie Menard, and later tried to take his own life.
Sparks lived beside the Menards at the Olive Dell Ranch nudist resort in Colton, where the victims vanished from their home on August 24, 2024.
Concern quickly grew when their longtime neighbor, Irene Engkraf, 78, noticed their absence from church service the following day.
“That was not Stephanie and Dan,” Engkraf said. “They would call and say, ‘We’re not feeling good,’ or ‘We’re not going to go.’ But they didn’t.”
The couple’s car was later spotted abandoned by the roadside with its keys still inside.
Alarmed, Engkraf and another resident entered the Menards’ mobile home.
Inside, they found signs that something was terribly wrong: Their phones and personal belongings were left behind, and the lights and fan were still on.
“At that point,” Engkraf recalled, “I said, ‘Call the police.'”
Authorities from multiple law enforcement agencies quickly launched a search, using helicopters, bloodhounds, drones, and even horseback riders to scour the area.
Suspect tells family member about double homicide
But the break in the case came five days later on August 29, when police received a tip from a relative of Sparks.
Redlands Police spokesperson Carl Baker explained, “While our team was canvassing the neighborhood again, we got a call from someone identifying themselves as a family member of Michael Sparks. They said he had admitted to killing two people and intended to commit suicide.”
Police attempted to reach Sparks at his mobile home, but got no response. An armored vehicle equipped with a battering ram was brought in to breach the front wall.
Officers eventually discovered Sparks hiding in a homemade concrete bunker beneath his trailer.
He allegedly tried to shoot himself with a rifle, but the weapon misfired. He was taken into custody on the scene.
According to investigators, Sparks kept the Menards’ bodies in his underground chamber.
A coroner later determined that the double homicide victims died from blunt force trauma to the head.
Suspect admits committing double homicide to fellow inmate
Last week, Redlands Police Detective Thomas Williams testified during a preliminary hearing at the San Bernardino Justice Center.
He revealed that Sparks had confided in a fellow inmate, offering a chilling account of what led to the killings.
“[The 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.”
Williams went on to say the inmate claimed Sparks “went outside and struck Mr. Menard in the head until his head caved in. Mrs. Menard came out yelling, ‘No! No!’ and then he began striking Mrs. Menard and Mr. Menard with a rake, a hoe, and a hammer.”
Police reported that Sparks transported the victims’ bodies into the bunker beneath his residence.
Parts of the couple were later discovered inside black garbage bags and an orange Home Depot bucket.
In another confession allegedly made to a separate inmate, Sparks reportedly admitted he had “dismembered” Stephanie Menard and “mutilated” Daniel Menard.
Detective Williams also confirmed that Sparks drowned the couple’s beloved shih tzu, Cuddles, in a sink and left the pet’s body outside to be consumed by coyotes.
Witness Gale Heidelberg testified that she had worked with Sparks in the past.
After watching news coverage about the missing couple, she reached out to Sparks via text.
“I am watching news. Something going on where you live. Are you in town?” she wrote.
Sparks allegedly responded, “It’s me. Committing suicide today. Take care. Bye.”
Shocked, Heidelberg replied, “Wait. What’s going on? Where are you?”
To which Sparks allegedly answered, “Chopped up my neighbors. Didn’t know I had it in me. SNAPPED.”
Another witness, Wayne Marinelli, testified that while searching for the Menards, he spotted Sparks cleaning out a 55-gallon drum that appeared to contain blood.
Friends noticed nudist couple were missing
Close friend and fellow resident John Hillis, who described himself as “best friends” with the Menards, also testified in court.
He grew suspicious on August 25, when Stephanie failed to call him for their usual church ride.
Hillis and Engkraf found the couple’s Chrysler Sebring with its keys still in the ignition and entered the Menards’ home using a key they had previously been given. What they found inside left them unsettled.
Hillis noticed that both Stephanie’s purse and Daniel’s wallet were present, but what disturbed him most was seeing her cane.
“She doesn’t cross the threshold of the door without the cane,” Hillis told the court.
Prosecutors believe the incident was triggered by Sparks’ feelings of humiliation tied to the perceived insult of receiving a cheap hot dog.
Sparks has also been charged with animal cruelty over the death of the dog. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
San Bernardino County District Attorney Jason Anderson has not yet disclosed whether prosecutors will pursue the death penalty.
Michael Sparks remains in custody without bail.
