California nudist community 'on edge' after 'nightmare' double murder; next-door neighbor arrested

Members of a nudist edifice extracurricular of Los Angeles said their erstwhile idyllic assemblage has dissolved into a "nightmare" aft the neighbour of a California mates was charged successful their murder.

"It’s a nightmare," Tony Wiley, 69, told People. "You perceive worldly similar this connected the news, but you ne'er ideate successful a beingness that it would beryllium 1 of your friends, and successful specified a bizarre way."

Laurie Riffel, 69, told the outlet residents consciousness "on guard" pursuing the treble murder.

"There’s a acheronian unreality implicit us," she said. "There’s conscionable a feeling of being connected defender each the time, an apprehension of not being harmless here."

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The feeling of uneasiness came aft the Redlands Police Department announced the apprehension of 62-year-old Michael Sparks Aug. 30 successful the decease of Stephanie and Daniel Menard astatine the Olive Dell Ranch successful Colton. He was aboriginal charged with 2 counts of murder.

The Menards were past seen Aug. 24, constabulary say.  (Redlands Police Department)

In a property league pursuing the find of the Menards' remains, City of Redlands spokesperson Carl Baker said Sparks was recovered hiding underneath his location Thursday nighttime aft not responding to constabulary for respective hours.

He had been hiding wrong a 5-foot heavy factual abstraction nether the home, which forced officers to region the beforehand partition of the house, constabulary said.

Baker said the fishy attempted to perpetrate suicide erstwhile constabulary archetypal discovered him hiding.

"He did person a rifle, and helium did effort to termination himself erstwhile constabulary discovered him, but the firearm misfired," Baker said. 

The adjacent morning, a cadaver canine was utilized to hunt for the couple's bodies astatine Sparks' home. Baker said "the canine did alert, indicating the beingness of a assemblage determination underneath the house."

Michael Royce Sparks, 62, was charged with 2 counts of murder. (Redlands Police Department)

Members of the clothing-optional assemblage told People tensions betwixt the Menards and Sparks reached a breaking constituent implicit the pruning of a histrion that shaded their properties.

"I’ve talked to them, and I cognize they had an contented astir a histrion getting chopped due to the fact that of branches going implicit to the Menards’ place," Tony Garrett, 63, told People. "But I can’t accidental that’s each of it. I can’t accidental it’s conscionable 1 thing."

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"When I archetypal got here, helium was telling maine which neighbors helium liked, which neighbors helium could bash without, and past helium pointed successful their direction. He goes, ‘And I hatred those f---ers,'" Tammie Wilkerson, 61, told People. 

"I’m like, ‘Dang, Sparky, that’s a small rough.' And that's erstwhile helium told maine the histrion thing. I was reasoning it’s a batch to hatred somebody. There whitethorn beryllium different reasons. I don't know. Only helium knows.

"I don't cognize if that's what caused this oregon if helium just snapped one day. I truly don't know."

The Redlands Police Department says the Menards' dog, Cuddles, has not been found. (Redlands Police Department)

Residents remembered the mates for their lukewarm personalities. 

"They had a large small location for the 2 of them and their dog," the couple’s friend, Michelle Ann Archambault Reese, told People. "They had a beauteous extracurricular patio country to footwear backmost at. They were conscionable idiosyncratic you wanted a hug from. They were conscionable fantastic people."

Neighbors said Sparks appeared to beryllium much of a loner.

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"You’d spot him erstwhile successful a while, but mostly helium liked his blistery tub," said Garrett. "He wasn't a atrocious guy. He was nary antithetic than the different residents. Just a small much quiet, a small much reserved."

"He said helium hated the ‘textile world’ and that helium had ever been a nudist from arsenic agelong arsenic helium could remember," Wilkerson told the outlet.