GRAND HAVEN, MI (WHTC-AM/FM) – Wendell Popejoy is apparently ready for prison.
The 63-year-old Nunica man waived a preliminary hearing before Grand Haven District Court Judge Craig Bunce yesterday and was bound over for trial on open murder charges stemming from the death last month of 59-year-old neighbor Sheila Bonge. Popejoy did admit to the crime, stating in a letter read in court that in the “spur of the moment, decided to shoot and kill Sheila, put her in the backyard, and take full responsibility for all actions to deceit and cover up the crime.”
Detectives say that Bonge, who apparently had her differences with Popejoy and other neighbors in the past, was blowing snow off of the suspect’s driveway at the residence on 104th Avenue on December 26th when the accused grabbed a .22-caliber revolver, shot the woman to death, and dragged her body to a wooded area behind their residences. The body was found two days later.
Popejoy had allegedly confessed to the crime even before yesterday’s proceedings, but according to state law, no felony confession can be accepted in District Court, so Popejoy’s case will go before the Ottawa County Circuit Court. Although he has no past criminal record, he remains held without bond in the Ottawa County Jail.
