A Wisconsin woman allegedly stashed her mother’s corpse in a plastic tub in the basement while living off the mom’s Social Security checks, authorities said.
The woman, 60-year-old Paula Bergold, hatched the plan months ago when her mother, Ruby, died and she didn’t have a steady income to support herself, local police said.
A neighbor called police and told them she hadn’t seen Ruby since May and was concerned that Paula was “being evasive to where Ruby might be.”
Police responded to the home last week and found a note taped to the door that said, “Ruby has gone out of town to visit some friends of ours. Paula.”
Cops noticed a stench of a decaying body while standing at the door and saw mothballs near the entrance.
Paula eventually came clean, telling cops her mother died in a chair and she couldn’t bring herself to alert authorities.
When the corpse started to smell, she said she put her it in a plastic container and stashed it in the basement.
She was arrested and charged with hiding a corpse, failing to report a death and obstruction.
Attorney information was not immediately available.
With Post Wires