FL: Murderer Of Day-Care Owner Located Her Through An Ad....
Slimpickins
By Rich McKay | Sentinel Staff Writer
Posted December 22, 2001
The man accused of killing Donna Gregory found her through a Daytona Beach
Pennysaver classified ad she placed for her baby-sitting service.
Michael Patrick Culbertson, a 26-year-old ex-con just five months out of
prison, didn't know Gregory, but Volusia County sheriff's detectives say he
wanted someone to rob on Dec. 6.
Investigators say he phoned a lie to Gregory, saying he needed a baby
sitter -- fast.
Detectives spent the next two weeks unraveling what happened to the
51-year-old mother and day-care owner whose clothed body was found in a
water-filled ditch in rural eastern Volusia County four days after she
vanished.
This is what they say happened, relying on witnesses, phone and credit-card
records, forensic science and the accused killer's own words.
They found Gregory's gold ring with five diamonds on the hand of the
accused's girlfriend, Debra Stendor, said Sgt. Bob Kelley, the lead
investigator.
Culbertson, who has no child and no job, has lived with his girlfriend on
Ridgewood Avenue since he left prison. He called Gregory and claimed to have
an 8-month-old son in need of an immediate baby sitter. He had to be in
Orlando by 10 a.m. He also said he was having car trouble, so Gregory
offered to swing by the apartment.
Detectives know this because phone records show Gregory got a call from
Stendor's phone. Gregory, who owned Pattycake Preschool in Daytona Beach,
called one of her workers right afterward and gave her the gist of the
conversation.
Stendor was at work at the Krystal fast-food restaurant at the time, said
detective Kelley, so no one else was home.
Once Gregory was inside, Culbertson attacked her, Kelley said. Gregory
fought back, scratching Culbertson on the face and bruising his wrist, the
investigator said.
Gregory died from blunt-force trauma to the throat, a medical examiner
determined.
Police would later find human blood on Culbertson's carpet and skin under
Gregory's fingernails, which is being tested.
Neighbors saw Gregory's minivan parked outside Culbertson's apartment, and
they saw him coming and going from it, reports show.
However, no one saw Gregory's body until it was found in a watery ditch on
Dec. 10. Her minivan was found Dec. 12, with blood and hair in the back
seat.
Meanwhile, Culbertson was using Gregory's credit cards, detectives say.
Detectives started zeroing in on Culbertson through phone records. He told
them that an associate of his -- who police said has a solid alibi -- came
to his house and used the phone to call Gregory.
Later, Culbertson would spin several conflicting tales, including seeing his
friend take Gregory into his apartment and assault her, investigators said.
Culbertson also said he got his wounds from a fight at work.
"He has no employment," investigator Kelley said.
Merchants identified Culbertson as the man using Gregory's credit cards and
driving her minivan.
Gregory's boyfriend, John Arsenault, identified the gold ring he bought
Gregory as the one Stendor had. Stendor promptly handed over the ring at the
detective's request and is cooperating.
Culbertson said he got both the credit cards and the ring from a friend. He
was arrested Dec. 14 on credit-card fraud and was charged Friday with
first-degree murder. He is being held in the Volusia County Jail without
bail.
Culbertson served about six years in prison for grand-theft auto, aggravated
battery on an elderly person and burglary. The Ormond Beach police are
investigating him in connection with an attack on an elderly woman.
Kelley said that a key element of the case was the description of the
assault Culbertson gave police when he claimed a friend had attacked
Gregory. The description matched the wounds on Gregory -- something only a
person who saw the body would know.
Gregory's family thanked the Volusia County Sheriff's Office for their its
compassion and diligence in this case.
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