Woman arrested after hiding body of roommate in trash to collect his benefits

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A Florida woman’s ploy to collect her dead roommate’s benefits was trashed after his body was found in a garbage can.

Michelle Haney, 48, was arrested on Dec. 9 and is being charged with abuse of a dead human body, 10 Tampa Bay reported.

Haney told deputies she found her roommate, 40-year-old Jon Christopher Leonard, dead in their mobile home in July. However, she decided to hide his body — first in a closet for three weeks, then in a trash can when the stench of his corpse became unbearable.

She sealed the 55-gallon trash can and took it to a neighbor, who recently called 911 after he opened the bin which emitted a foul smell. Thinking it was Haney’s personal belongings, he had been keeping it in his carport for months, he told authorities.

The Manatee County sheriff’s office said Haney admitted to the act to collect Leonard’s Social Security benefits after he died.

The corpse was found in an advanced stage of decomposition, which is why authorities could not immediately identify the cause of death.

A $50,000 (P2.4 million) bond has been set for Haney, as per ABC7 WWSB on Dec. 10. The court did not grant a supervised released, citing Haney’s criminal past and failure to appear. Niña V. Guno/JB

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