Woman Confesses to Killing Roommate

...then hiding her body under pile of presents
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 6, 2011 2:27 PM CST
Woman Confesses to Killing Roommate
This police arrest photo released Dec. 3 by the York County Sheriff's Office, SC, shows Patty Michelle White.   (AP Photo/York County Sheriff's Office,HO)

Today in the Terrible Crimes Department: 67-year-old Florida woman Michele O'Dowd was murdered last week and then "hidden" under a pile of Christmas presents in her bed. Family friend and former roommate Patty White, 40, who stayed with O'Dowd when times got rough, confessed to killing her, WBTV reports. Police say something happened between the two former roommates and White went back to South Carolina, but returned to rob O'Dowd.

"Whatever took place inside that apartment went horribly wrong and [White] wound up beating and killing [O'Dowd]," police said at a press conference. O'Dowd's twin brother found her body Friday morning; she had been beaten and strangled and her apartment ransacked. Her debit card was missing, and police got a picture of White using it after O'Dowd's death. Click for more from the bizarre crime. (More crime stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X