By New York Post (U.S.) | Created at 2024-10-29 22:52:36 | Updated at 2024-10-30 03:25:48
4 hours ago
An Arizona man was arrested last week for allegedly stuffing his dead dad’s corpse in a backyard freezer and leaving it there for years — as he continued cashing the old man’s Social Security checks.
The Tempe Police Department said it was tipped off Oct. 22 that there might be a dead body hidden in 51-year-old Joseph Hill, Jr.’s yard, according to ABC 15 Arizona.
When cops arrived at the home near McClintock Drive and Baseline Road, Hill wouldn’t let them go near the freezer — but detectives kept pushing, and eventually secured a search warrant.
When authorities went back a few days later, they busted into the freezer — which had been tightly wrapped with tarps, blankets, Saran wrap and duct tape — and found a shocking surprise: The skeletal remains of a human body, the network said.
Hill finally came clean and allegedly told police that he’d bought the freezer after his dad died four years ago.
He’d been fearful that he’d lose the house — which his dad had lived in since it was built in the 1960s — if he reported the death, ABC said.
“His dad was frail, and he could barely walk,” one neighbor told the station. “He was sick a lot.”
After his death, Hill crammed his dead dad into the freezer and left it — but cashed his father’s social security checks every month until March 2023, CBS 5 News in Phoenix reported.
Hill also allegedly told the cops that he’d moved the freezer several times over the years, and eventually intended to bury his dad in the desert.
But each time he brought it out there, there were “always people out there.”
For the last six months, the freezer sat outside without power, CBS added.
Police charged him with concealing a body and failure to report a death — though cops say more charges could be coming.
He’s being held in Maricopa County Jail on $25,000 cash bail, reports said.
“It’s definitely shocking,” one neighbor said. “Especially when you have small children asking, ‘What happened at Joe’s house?'”
