BROOMFIELD TOWNSHIP, Mich. (November 2, 2012)—John D. White, 55, an ex-church employee in central Michigan, is accused of beating and strangling a neighbor to fulfill a sexual fantasy.

White is jailed without bond in Mount Pleasant, Mich., on first-degree murder charges.

White told investigators he repeatedly struck Rebekah Gay's head with a mallet then strangled her with a zip tie at her Mount Pleasant trailer.

He said he stripped her, but does not remember if he carried out his fantasy of having sex with Gay's body.

Gay's 3-year-old son was home during the attack.

A county sheriff said, "Hopefully he was sleeping."

White told the judge he was a church employee until Wednesday.

Church elder Donna Houghton told WOOD-TV that White was a pastor at the Christ Community Fellowship in Mount Pleasant.