GRAND HAVEN, Mich. (WOOD) — A jury on Monday found an Ottawa County man guilty of first-degree murder in the shooting death of his neighbor.
An Ottawa County jury needed only a few hours to convict Wendell Popejoy of murder as well as a weapons charge.
Popejoy previously confessed to shooting Sheila Bonge, 59, in the back of the head while she was snowblowing on her Crockery Township property on Dec. 26, 2017. Authorities say Popejoy then burned Bonge's clothes and left her naked body buried in the snow on his property, where she was found two days later.
Popejoy never denied killing Bonge. Part of a confession he gave police was read during his trial.
“I went out there, got behind her and shot her. I guess it was a cold act. ... I’m not really sorry she’s gone," he wrote in the confession.