Deputies said the suspect later admitted killing 76-year-old Paul De Wayne Bradley after an argument and driving away in his pickup truck.
CHARLOTTE COUNTY, Fla. — A 48-year-old woman was arrested Monday after deputies said she confessed to fatally stabbing her roommate at a home on Gewant Boulevard in Charlotte County, leaving his body under a tarp and driving away in his pickup truck.
Authorities identified the victim as Paul De Wayne Bradley, 76, a military veteran whose death stunned neighbors in the Charlotte Ranchettes area. The arrest came a day after deputies were called to the home Sunday night for a report of a person not breathing. Investigators say the case quickly widened into a homicide inquiry after Bradley was found dead and his vehicle was missing.
According to the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office, deputies reached the residence on the evening of March 8 and found Bradley dead inside the home. Detectives said Bradley’s pickup was gone from the driveway, prompting investigators to trace the vehicle into Sarasota County. The sheriff’s office said Sarasota County deputies found Shannon Rose Giblin with the truck and detained her. During questioning, investigators said, Giblin admitted stabbing Bradley after an argument. Deputies said she later told them she realized he was beyond help, covered him with a tarp and left the home in his vehicle.
Giblin, who was identified by authorities as Bradley’s roommate, was booked on a charge of non-premeditated murder and a charge of grand theft of a motor vehicle. She was being held without bond. Investigators have not publicly described how long the argument lasted, what caused it or whether anyone else was inside the house when Bradley was killed. The sheriff’s office also has not released details about the weapon beyond saying Bradley was stabbed. Those unanswered questions remained central Monday as the investigation continued.
Friends and neighbors told local reporters that Bradley had recently allowed Giblin to stay at the home. Adam LaFleur, a friend of Bradley’s, said Bradley had become uneasy within days. LaFleur said Giblin had presented herself as an in-home caregiver and had been living there for about a week before Bradley died. He said Bradley planned to make her leave by 4 p.m. Sunday. Another neighbor, Jody Scharping, said Bradley was known as a kind man who tried to help people around him and had mentored her son. Those accounts offered a picture of a victim neighbors say was generous and well known in the community.
The case moved quickly from a death investigation to criminal charges because of the missing vehicle and the suspect’s detention in another county. Deputies said the vehicle’s movement into Sarasota County became a key step in locating Giblin. Prosecutors will now decide how the case proceeds in court, including whether additional filings follow as detectives complete forensic work and collect statements. Jail records showed Giblin was being held without bond after the charges were filed Monday. No court date was included in the information released publicly Monday night.
Outside the legal case, the killing drew a strong emotional response from people who said they knew Bradley as a veteran and a neighbor who often stepped in to help others. LaFleur said Bradley was “a damn good man,” while Scharping described him as someone who looked for ways to support younger people in the neighborhood. Giblin’s family also released a statement expressing sorrow to Bradley’s relatives and friends. In that statement, the family said it would not try to deflect responsibility and described the death as a tragedy that had brought pain to many people.
The case stood Monday night as a charged homicide investigation, with Giblin jailed without bond and detectives still working to fill in the final timeline from Sunday’s fatal confrontation.
Author note: Last updated March 10, 2026.