Posted on 07/20/2002 7:07:49 PM PDT by vannrox
BERLIN (Reuters) - A German man lived in an apartment with his dead father for at least a year to avoid eviction, police said Monday. The father was skeletal, just skin and bones, completely dried up, said Petra Volk, spokeswoman for Wiesbaden police. Firemen found the decomposed body sitting on the couch after neighbors reported a smell of burning. The unemployed son, 42, had not notified authorities of the death because he feared he would be kicked out of the apartment, which was rented in his father's name, police said. The son appears to be alcoholic although he was quite lucid when we interviewed him," Volk said. "The flat was in a mess, with rubbish and empty bottles everywhere... It s incredible to think of them together like that." Police believe the father died of natural causes. Germany has seen several cases in recent years in which the bodies of people who had died alone in their homes lay undiscovered for weeks, months or even years. We haven t arrested the son because we have no indication yet that a crime was committed ; said Volk. "You get some strange people.
However, the stench (and until you've experienced it is incomprehensible) quite overwhelming. I don't believe that anybody ever gets used to it. There's nothing that can erase that smell from my mind. My fear is that I'm going to experience it before too long. It is no comfort that a great number of people occupying the territorial area of the United States of America will experience that smell. It is not my wish for anybody to experience that.
In fact you get off light living downwind of a slaughterhouse on a hot day...
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.