Michael Wayne Adkins (West Virginia Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation).
A 58-year-old man has been arrested for allegedly gunning down a couple inside a West Virginia home after witnesses told authorities that the suspect was “obsessed” with the female victim and had previously threatened that he was “going to kill” her boyfriend.
Michael Wayne Adkins was taken into custody last week and charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the slayings of Brenda Dennis and Richard Bishop, court records reviewed by Law&Crime show.
According to court documents obtained by Charleston, West Virginia ABC affiliate WCHS, troopers with the West Virginia State Police at about 8:30 p.m. on Thursday were stopped by a man who said he had just discovered the victims’ bodies inside Dennis’ home located in the 6000 block of Big Otter Highway in Ivydale. The home is about 50 miles northeast of Charleston, West Virginia.
Upon arriving at the scene, the troopers reportedly found a male victim, later identified as Bishop, who appeared to have suffered three gunshot wounds. The female, later identified as Dennis, had suffered a single gunshot wound.
Several shell casings from a 9 mm handgun were also recovered from inside the home.
The witness who found the bodies told police that the two victims were in a romantic relationship. He also brought up Adkins, telling the troopers that Adkins was “obsessed” with Dennis but did not like Bishop.
Dennis’ son also spoke to police, telling investigators that Adkins had previously told him that he was “going to kill Mr. Bishop one day,” according to a report from Huntington, West Virginia CBS affiliate WOWK.
The officers then reportedly went to Adkins’ home in Duck, West Virginia, where they picked him up and transported him to the West Virginia State Police Clay Detachment for an interview.
During the interview, Adkins reportedly said that he’d gone to Dennis’ home on Monday, March 31, to give her a ride to the bank and ended up staying the night. The following day, he and Dennis fought and Adkins left the home. He returned later that day, allegedly at the request of Dennis, who needed to borrow his car. She returned a short while later with Bishop in the car.
Later that evening, Adkins said he and Dennis got into an argument during which Dennis allegedly threatened to “whip his a–,” both stations reported.
Adkins said he responded by pulling out his 9 mm and shooting Bishop once in the chest, per WCHS. Bishop fell to the floor and Adkins said he shot him an additional two times before turning the gun on Dennis and shooting her once.
After allegedly confessing to the shooting, Adkins told troopers that he’d known Dennis for about three years, adding that he was “tired of being used by her.”
Adkins is currently being held in West Virginia Central Regional Jail without bond.
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