HOLLAND (WHTC-AM/FM) — The Michigan Court of Appeals has denied an appeal by convicted murderer Wendell Earl Popejoy, 65. (Read the court document.)
Popejoy was arrested and charged with murder in the Dec. 26, 2017, shooting death of one of his next-door neighbors, Sheila Bonge, in their Crockery Township neighborhood.
Testimony in the trial showed the two had had a series of disputes, and that Bonge fought with other neighbors. Police records show they’d been called out dozens of times to settle neighbor disputes on that street.
The Appeals Court opinion noted “For several years before her death, there was an ongoing, bitter neighborhood dispute between Bonge and her neighbors. The record reflected that Bonge repeatedly harassed multiple neighbors by name-calling, yelling, “flipping the bird,” trespassing, snow blowing snow onto her neighbor’s driveways, honking her horn as she drove by their homes, driving on their grass, riling up her neighbor’s animals, and was even engaged in civil litigation with one set of neighbors over an easement at the time of her death.”
Those facts, according to the court opinion, were no excuse for Bonge’s murder.
“A rational review of this evidence does not support a finding that the killing occurred in the heat of passion; rather, defendant had ample time to plan the killing. Thus, we conclude that the trial court’s decision not to instruct the jury on the lesser included offense of voluntary manslaughter was not an abuse of discretion.”
Popejoy, convicted of first-degree murder and felony weapons charges on Nov. 5, 2018, remains behind bars at the Carson Correctional Facility on a life sentence.
