Michael Royce Sparks had myriad disputes with his elderly next-door neighbors at the Olive Dell Ranch nudist resort in Redlands before, prosecutors say, he killed, mutilated and dismembered Dan Menard, 79, and his wife, Stephanie, 73, in August.
There was the noisy generator that the Menards installed between their homes. While Sparks disliked some Olive Dell residents, he “hated” the Menards, a resident testified. That same resident said Dan Menard angered Sparks by cutting limbs from Sparks’ tree that hung over the Menards’ property. And another resident noted in her testimony the frequent grousing Stephanie Menard did about what she considered the “sinful” Sparks, who was otherwise a popular figure among the nearly 100 residents.
But what ultimately set him off, according to testimony Monday, June 16, at Sparks’ preliminary hearing at the San Bernardino County Justice Center in San Bernardino, was his humiliation over a hot dog.
Redlands police Detective Thomas Williams testified that about three weeks after Sparks, 62, was arrested on Aug. 29, a fellow inmate at the West Valley Detention Center came forward with a story he said Sparks shared.
A text message between Michael Royce Sparks and Gale Heidelberg is displayed as evidence during Sparks’ preliminary hearing at the San Bernardino Justice Center on Monday, June 16, 2025. Sparks is accused of murdering and dismembering his neighbors, Daniel Menard, 79, and Stephanie Menard, 73, in Aug. 2024 at the Olive Dell Ranch nudist resort in Redlands, where they all lived. (Photo by John Valenzuela, Contributing Photographer“He said Mr. Sparks told him the incident started over a hot dog that Daniel Menard had purchased for him,” Williams told Deputy District Attorney Sean Han. “He said Mr. Sparks felt that the hot dog was a jab at him, making him feel like he was worth only a dollar hot dog, and that’s what set him off that day.
“(The inmate) said (Sparks) went outside and struck Mr. Menard in the head until his head caved in. Mrs. Menard came out yelling, ‘No! No!’ and then he began striking Mrs. Menard and Mr. Menard with a rake, a hoe and a hammer,” Williams said.
Sparks added more details to his story to the inmates, Williams testified. Sparks took the Menards into the concrete bunker he had built beneath his trailer. He dismembered Stephanie Menard and then mutilated her husband, he told the inmates. Authorities later found the body parts in several black plastic bags and an orange Home Depot bucket, Williams said.
Witness John Willis testifies during a a preliminary hearing for Michael Royce Sparks at the San Bernardino Justice Center, Monday, June 16, 2025. Sparks is accused of murdering and dismembering his neighbors, Daniel Menard, 79, and Stephanie Menard, 73, in Aug. 2024 at the Olive Dell Ranch nudist resort in Redlands, where they all lived. (Photo by John Valenzuela,/Contributing Photographer)Sparks also acknowledged drowning the Menards’ white Shih Tzu, Cuddles, in a sink and throwing away her body, Williams said. When the trash wasn’t picked up on the regular day, he cast Cuddles into the hills, where he believed coyotes ate her, Williams said.
Sparks’ attorney, Gary Ablard, did not present a defense.
Following the testimony, Superior Court Judge Alexander R. Martinez ruled there was sufficient evidence to hold Sparks for trial on two charges of murder and one count of animal cruelty. Sparks has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Witness Gale Heidelberg is questioned by San Bernardino County Deputy District Attorney Sean Han, during a a preliminary hearing for Michael Royce Sparks at the San Bernardino Justice Center, Monday, June 16, 2025. Sparks is accused of murdering and dismembering his neighbors, Daniel Menard, 79, and Stephanie Menard, 73, in Aug. 2024 at the Olive Dell Ranch nudist resort in Redlands, where they all lived. (Photo by John Valenzuela,/Contributing Photographer)District Attorney Jason Anderson has not said whether he will seek the death penalty. The next hearing is scheduled for June 27.
Several residents of Olive Dell, where they agreed with Han and Deputy District Attorney Justin Crocker that “everyone knows everybody,” were traumatized as they testified Monday. Wayne Marinelli had to pause to compose himself during his testimony that during the search for the Menards, he saw Sparks washing out a 55-gallon drum that appeared to have blood in it.
Tammie Wilkerson didn’t even make it that far, crying as she spelled her name to the court reporter as she took the stand.
Defense attorney Gary Ablard questions a witness during a preliminary hearing for his client, Michael Royce Sparks, at the San Bernardino Justice Center on Monday, June 16, 2025. Sparks is accused of murdering and dismembering his neighbors, Daniel Menard, 79, and Stephanie Menard, 73, in Aug. 2024 at the Olive Dell Ranch nudist resort in Redlands, where they all lived. (Photo by John Valenzuela, Contributing Photographer)They described “Mike” or “Sparky” as friendly and handy with construction projects at their homes. He was quiet and sometimes stayed in his home for a week. Mary Farrell, whose testimony was delayed while court staff retrieved an assisted-listening device (“My dog ate my hearing aid,” Farrell testified in all seriousness), said Sparks helped her load furniture and 50 boxes when she moved.
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The Menards lived at the 73-year-old resort in the hills of Reche Canyon on the Colton border for 15 years. Resident John Hillis testified that Stephanie Menard had muscular dystrophy and walked with a cane. Her husband had dementia and while ambulatory, couldn’t walk far.
So Hillis drove the Menards to church in Moreno Valley every Sunday. He testified that he didn’t get his usual call from Stephanie Menard on Aug. 25 alerting him to pick them up. As Hillis drove to church, he spotted the couple’s late 1990s Chrysler Sebring outside the resort in a driveway, the keys still in the ignition.
After they didn’t show up at church, Hillis went to their home. He was “best friends” with the Menards and had a key to their home so he could check in on them. Hillis said he was surprised to see Stephanie’s purse and Dan’s wallet. But most alarming, he added, was spotting Stephanie’s cane.
“She doesn’t cross the threshold of the door without the cane,” Hillis said.
Witness Mary Farrell testifies during a a preliminary hearing for Michael Royce Sparks at the San Bernardino Justice Center, Monday, June 16, 2025. Sparks is accused of murdering and dismembering his neighbors, Daniel Menard, 79, and Stephanie Menard, 73, in Aug. 2024 at the Olive Dell Ranch nudist resort in Redlands, where they all lived. (Photo by John Valenzuela,/Contributing Photographer)For four days, residents and authorities searched for the Menards in what was initially a missing persons case. That changed on Aug. 29 when a relative of Sparks in Minnesota and a former co-worker told police that they had received startling text messages from Sparks at the same time officers were going home to home at the resort hunting for the Menards.
Gale Heidelberg testified she was a dispatcher at Smitty’s Diesel Repair in Colton, where Sparks once worked as a truck driver. She sometimes drove Sparks home, so she recognized the neighborhood when she saw television coverage of the search.
A photo is displayed in court of couple Daniel Menard and Stephanie Menard, during a a preliminary hearing for Michael Royce Sparks at the San Bernardino Justice Center, Monday, June 16, 2025. Sparks is accused of murdering and dismembering his neighbors, Daniel Menard, 79, and Stephanie Menard, 73, in Aug. 2024 at the Olive Dell Ranch nudist resort in Redlands, where they all lived. (Photo by John Valenzuela,/Contributing Photographer)“I am watching news. Something going on where you live. Are you in town?” Heidelberg texted Sparks.
“It’s me,” Sparks replied. “Committing suicide today. Take care. Bye.”
Answered Heidelberg: “Wait. What’s going on? Where are you?”
Sparks’ answer: “Chopped up my neighbors. Didn’t know I had it in me. SNAPPED.”
Redlands Detective Laurel Shearer was smelling a foul odor at Sparks’ home at Space 43 when she received word of the texts. She called and texted Sparks, who refused to come out.
A text message between Michael Royce Sparks and Mary Farrell is displayed as evidence during Sparks’ preliminary hearing at the San Bernardino Justice Center on Monday, June 16, 2025. Sparks is accused of murdering and dismembering his neighbors, Daniel Menard, 79, and Stephanie Menard, 73, in Aug. 2024 at the Olive Dell Ranch nudist resort in Redlands, where they all lived. (Photo by John Valenzuela, Contributing PhotographerRedlands Cpl. Jeremiah Hotchner testified that police used a tractor to tear the trailer apart. They spotted Sparks in the bunker, holding a long rifle. Sparks tried to shoot himself, but the rifle jammed.
Williams asked Sparks where the Menards were, and whether they needed help.
“He told me they were underneath the trailer and that they didn’t need any help,” Williams said, adding that he inquired why that was.
“He replied back that they were in pieces,” Williams testified.
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