Caring for your mummy
Is it just me, or does this sound a lot like Psycho? Norman Bates stuffed his mother using his taxidermy skills; these fine folks used other methods.
A woman whose mummified body was dressed in a white gown and placed in front of a television for two and a half years died from heart disease.
Hamilton County Coroner Dr. O'dell Owens said Tuesday he will rule that her death was the result of cardiovascular disease.Officials never suspected abuse or foul play after finding Johannas Pope, 61, in her Madisonville home Jan. 4.
Pope told her caretaker, Kathy Painter, she didn't want to be buried because she believed she would come back to life.
Officials knew Pope had been dead for a while. Some police wore oxygen masks in the house because of the odor. Almost a week after the remains were found, Owens pegged her death as Aug. 29, 2003.
Painter left Pope's body in a chair in an air-conditioned room on the second floor of their Davies Place home.
Investigators learned that Painter took care of Pope's body - trying to preserve it.
Owens said Painter put on gloves and removed the maggots from Pope's body daily.
He said she used bug spray when they became too numerous to remove by hand. Investigators found 17 cans of bug spray in the house, he said.
"She really took care of (the body)," Owens said.
Painter even bought Pope new clothes just before officials discovered her body.
"She bought new clothes because she thought this was the time period she was coming back," Owens said.
Family members kept a window air conditioner running to keep Pope's body cool until about two months ago, when it broke, Owens said. Heating vents were covered during winter.
--Source
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