Slog

News & Arts

Line Out

Music & the City
at Night

« Ellen Forney's Poster for Kelleen C… | Death and Starbucks »

Thursday, July 12, 2012

Etiquette / Death / Life "He was the only guy who was ever nice to me."

Posted by David Schmader on Thu, Jul 12, 2012 at 10:45 AM

That's the heartbreaking explanation given by the 72-year-old woman who kept her dead boyfriend in a chair in her living room for two years.

Thank you, Slog Tipper Marti.

FacebookShare

Comments (16) RSS

Oldest First Unregistered On Registered On Add a comment

It's easy to not be an asshole when you're dead.

Posted by Mike in Olympia on July 12, 2012 at 10:56 AM

'A Rose for Emily' -- never thought I'd see it in real life though. What setting on your AC do you need in order to get a corpse to mummify?

Posted by J-Haxx

on July 12, 2012 at 10:58 AM

This is layer upon layer of fucked up. From that heartbreaking quote, to the fact that she was still cashing his social security checks (puts this in an entirely new and sinister light) not to mention that he died during Christmas two years ago, and his family never seriously tried to contact him until now.

What. The. Fuck.

Posted by UNPAID COMMENTER on July 12, 2012 at 11:02 AM

I know people are going to say she did it for the money. It is easier to blame this on greed, but I can imagine the grief and denial she may have felt all too well, especially if there was fear mixed in.

Fear of eviction, of having his estranged family come and take away their shared belongings, fear of having to live off of one SS check alone. Easier to pretend he was still there with her, watching TV. Easier to pretend she wasn't alone.

Posted by wingedkat on July 12, 2012 at 11:09 AM

@4 +++

Posted by JensR

on July 12, 2012 at 11:19 AM

@4 Nah. She did it for the cash. All the rest is bullshit. She left the body there so that when it was discovered, she could pretend he had just died. It took longer than expected for the body to be discovered. The guy who owns the house next to ours died not long ago, and the woman he was shacking up with tried to get in touch with his kids as he was dying, but she said they wouldn't respond. Sadly, folks get estranged for years from their families all the time.

Posted by David from Chicago on July 12, 2012 at 11:23 AM

@6,

It seems like if she disposed of the body, she could make a much more believable claim that he only just recently ditched her. Unless the authorities found the body, it would be difficult to prove she was lying, especially if the guy was that estranged from his family and friends.

Posted by keshmeshi on July 12, 2012 at 11:33 AM

Perhaps it wasn’t so much that he was great company after his death, but that he was still a great supporter.

Greed or what wingedcat said - or both. Fear and greed are not mutually exclusive.

Posted by Allyn on July 12, 2012 at 11:36 AM

Any true crime/serial killer genre fans among you should pick up a copy of "Killing for Company", the story of Dennis Nillsen (sp?) He was a lonely Englander who worked for their social services agency and eventually took to picking up like minded folks at the pub, bringing them back to his apartment, killing them, and keeping their corpses around his place for a while.

Sad, sympathetic figure, quick easy read as I recall.

Posted by mikethehammer on July 12, 2012 at 11:40 AM

@7 You expect a 72 year old woman to somehow dispose of a body?

In any case, whether it be greed or extreme loneliness, this story is just all sorts of fucked up.

Posted by UNPAID COMMENTER on July 12, 2012 at 11:42 AM

forget the weekend. 20-teens at bernie's....

Posted by freshnycman on July 12, 2012 at 12:45 PM

i don't begrudge her the SS fraud. it's a pittance. ann romney's horse probably pooped that amount this morning.

Posted by Max Solomon on July 12, 2012 at 1:03 PM

I really love the mentality of prosecute the old lady going on. You know, justice isn't just about prosecution and punishment. Justice is also about mercy.

Posted by Cato the Younger Younger on July 12, 2012 at 1:15 PM

@13

Justice is also about protecting future victims. What, do people think this old woman is going to go out and steal more bodies?

Lock her up! Lock her up! Punish the guilty! Orderly society! Orderly society!

Posted by Zebes

on July 12, 2012 at 2:26 PM

A few years ago something like this happened in a small town near where my mother lives and there were articles in the local paper. The big take-away point from the **reporter's** point of view (you know, the person who wrote the "fact article" and wasn't supposed to engage in armchair fundagelical psychology)?

The woman who kept her dead husband's body in the house for about the same period of time as this one was an ATHEIST, and of course, because atheists have no belief in an afterlife the thought of death just unhinges them so completely that they can't bury a body. I don't remember for sure, but I think "atheist" was even in the headline.

/snark
so you suppose she was an atheist?
/snark off

Posted by OldFiddler on July 12, 2012 at 3:52 PM