Insets, left: Shannon R. Giblin after her arrest for murder (Sarasota County Sheriff”s Office). Right: Giblin’s mug shot (Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office). Background: The home in Punta Gorda, Florida, where Giblin allegedly murdered a 76-year-old man (WINK).
A Florida woman who had apparently been hired to help a 76-year-old veteran around the house allegedly murdered him after an argument, covered his body with a tarp and then stole his car.
Shannon R. Giblin, 47, stands accused of second-degree murder and grand theft of a motor vehicle in the death of Paul De Wayne Bradley in Punta Gorda, according to the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office. Deputies responded on Sunday evening to a home on Gewant Boulevard for a report of a person not breathing.
When they arrived at the home, police said they found Bradley dead with stab wounds. Cops noticed his vehicle was missing and “through investigative measures” tracked it to nearby Sarasota County.
Deputies found Giblin, whom they described as Bradley’s roommate, with the car and arrested her. In an interview with deputies, she allegedly admitted to stabbing Bradley to death after an argument.
“After realizing that the victim was beyond help, Giblin then covered Bradley with a tarp and left the scene in the victim’s pickup truck,” deputies wrote.
Cops did not elaborate on a possible motive, but neighbors told local CBS affiliate WINK that Bradley recently hired Giblin to help him around the house after his wife died a few years ago.
“From my understanding, things weren’t going really well… but he was gonna, I guess, evict her that day, and then that happened, so I’m assuming something didn’t go right,” neighbor Jody Scharping told the outlet.
Scharping said her neighbor was a kind man who was well-liked in the neighborhood.
“He was a veteran. He went through wars and came back, he survived a heart attack not long ago, and then this is what takes his life. Nobody deserves that,” she said.
Giblin’s family released a statement to WINK that apologized for her alleged actions. The statement insinuated that Giblin was going through a mental health crisis at the time of the stabbing and lamented the fact that veterans have difficulty getting help.
She is currently in the Sarasota County Jail and is expected to be moved to Charlotte County to face her charges.
