Man borrows car, finds body in trunk [Tampa Tribune, Fla.]

Nov. 19--TAMPA -- Kirby Mack needed to borrow a car. Friend James Sheets II told Mack he could use a gold-colored sedan parked outside the Tampa hotel room he was renting.

There was one condition: Don't look in the trunk.

When Mack started driving the 2006 Mercury Grand Marquis on Tuesday, he noticed "a foul odor coming from the trunk of the vehicle," according to a search warrant affidavit.

He stopped the car, opened the trunk and found a dead body inside, the warrant said. Mack, 38, called 911 and drove to the nearest station, telling police that he had a body in the trunk.

The body later was identified as 79-year-old real estate developer Henry Shell, who had been reported missing since Monday.

Police have named Mack a witness in the case.

Sheets, 35, of 4433 Chase Drive, Wesley Chapel, is a suspect in Shell's death.

On Wednesday, Sheets was arrested, accused of stealing the gold-colored Mercury that Shell owned and Mack borrowed.

Sheets was arrested at the Shaw Motel, 1509 E. Hillsborough Ave.

A witness told detectives that Sheets had been staying at the motel since Nov. 12.

Mack said Sheets had the Mercury sedan since at least that day, the warrant said.

Sheets is charged with grand theft, possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia. He is being held without bail at Orient Road Jail.

Shell had been dead about two or three days before Mack drove the body to the police station, investigators said.

The medical examiner's office has ruled Shell's death as suspicious and is running more tests.

When detectives inspected the car, they saw what appeared to be blood on the front seats and on the front and rear passenger door handles, the search warrant said.

Shell last was seen alive at 6 p.m. Saturday. He was at his office, Shell Realty and Insurance, 1309 N. Florida Ave., Tampa, with Sheets on that day, police said.

Detectives are trying to determine the relationship between Shell and Sheets. The pair may have driven the victim's 2006 gold Mercury Grand Marquis to Wesley Chapelbetween 6:20 and 11 p.m. on Saturday.

Sheets' aunt said the real estate developer took her nephew in and gave him a job.

"He worked for Mr. Shell," Jean Mulligan said on Thursday. "He drove him around all the time, took him on trips and worked on houses for him."

Shell, said Mulligan, "was so good to Jamey. We were just tickled to death someone was giving him a chance."

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