- But he wanted to make sure no one blamed his wife.
In Utah, a man’s body was found in a freezer and it was believed to have been there for a decade. With the body, there was a note letting officials know that ‘his wife didn’t kill him.’
Authorities found 75-year-old Jeanne Sourone-Mathers dead in her apartment while conducting a welfare check. She lived in Tooele, southwest of Salt Lake City in Utah and had died of natural causes. It wasn’t until searching further that police found 69-year-old Paul Edwards Mathers in the freezer.
Along with his body, investigators found a notarized letter signed by Paul Mathers saying that his wife did not kill him. “It was notarized on December 2, 2008,” Tooele Police Sgt. Jeremy Hansen said. “We believe he had a terminal illness.”
Mathers was last seen on February 4th, 2009 for an appointment at the Veterans Affairs Hospital. Police think that the wife left Mathers dead in the freezer sometime between February 4th and March 8th, 2009.
The notary was interviewed by police as a part of their investigation. “She told the detective she didn’t read the note, she just stamped it and signed it.”
Authorities wonder why the woman kept the body and whether or not she wanted to keep collecting his Social Security and Veteran’s Affairs checks.
Homicide has not been ruled out, but investigators do wonder if the woman had any help with getting her husband into the freezer which was in a utility room. She did use a wheelchair, but in early 2009 did not need one and Mathers was not a large man.
There were additional details within the letter that have not been released as of yet. Neighbors who heard of the situation said that Sourone-Mathers was a “very nice person” and wouldn’t “hurt a fly.”
However, Evan Kline had something else to say about the incident. According to Kline, who took her to her doctor’s appointments, she told him a different story. “The story that — at least she was putting out — was her husband walked out on her,” Kline said.
Another resident, James Kite, said that Sourone-Mathers kept the body around as a source of income because she didn’t have any money coming in otherwise, which he noted was “kind of smart” but “still creepy.” “I wouldn’t want to live in an apartment with my dead husband or my dead wife,” Kite stated.