A MAN accused of killing an elderly couple at a nudist resort confessed to murdering them over a hot dog, a court heard.
Michael Royce Sparks, 62, is accused of beating to death Stephanie Mernard, 73, and her husband Daniel Menard, 79, with garden tools back in August.
The couple went missing from their home at RV park and nudist resort Olive Dell Ranch, Redlands, California.
Their remains were discovered by cops a week later stuffed in bags in a concrete bunker beneath Sparks’ home.
This week, a detective told court that Sparks had admitted to multiple people that he killed the couple.
He allegedly said the final straw was an argument over a hot dog.
Redlands detective Thomas Williams testified that Sparks confided in another inmate about receiving a hot dog from Daniel, which he took as an affront.
Williams stated, “Mr. Sparks felt that the hot dog was intended as a mockery, implying he was worth no more than a dollar hot dog. That perceived slight triggered his actions that day.”
Williams told the court Sparks had also confessed the crime to somebody outside the prison through texts and letters.
He allegedly wrote: “Chopped up my neighbors. Didn’t know I had it in me. SNAPPED.”
Sparks is accused of beating the couple to death with a rake, a hoe and a hammer.
He also allegedly admitted drown their dog, Cuddles, in a sink.
Another neighbor told KABC that there was a long history of tension between Sparks and the Menards – which all began over a trimmed tree.
The resident said the Menards pruned the tree after Sparks refused to – kicking off a bitter, years-long row.
The neighbor Tammie Wilkerson said: “I didn’t think he’d ever be able to do something like this.
“I know he didn’t like them, and he didn’t have a problem telling people that, but I never thought he’d do this.”
During the investigation, a former co-worker contacted Sparks, who allegedly admitted to being the prime suspect and disclosed that he had considered suicide, but his gun malfunctioned.
The initial search for the couple lasted five days.
At the time, cops said they searched Sparks’ house because a neighbor reported that he had confessed to killing the pair.
SWAT teams stormed his home and found him hiding beneath it in a bunker.
Police had used a hydraulic battering ram, K9 teams, drones, and a helicopter to look for the couple.
