Photo: Wisconsin Department of Justice
A Wisconsin woman is accused of killing her grandmother and setting their home on fire four days later with the victim’s corpse inside,the Wisconsin Department of Justice says.
Elizabeth M. Durkee, 36, was arrested on four felony charges in relation to a “suspicious death” and subsequent house fire, according to the DOJ.
On the morning of June 11, police and fire were called to the scene of a burning house in Fort Atkinson. Acriminal complaintfiled in Jefferson County says that responders spotted a corpse inside the bedroom where the flames were the strongest.
When criminal investigators removed the body, there were signs that indicated it was already in a state of decay. An autopsy of the victim later confirmed that she died before the fire was started.
The 72-year-old victim, whose name has not been publicly released, was identified as Durkee’s grandmother, who reportedly lived with Durkee and her 2-year-old daughter, the complaint says.
Durkee was taken into custody on June 12, when she allegedly told authorities that her grandmother was in poor health and wanted help dying so that she could be with her late husband.
According to the complaint, Durkee alleged that after dinner on June 7, she helped her grandmother into bed, told her that she loved her, and then duct-taped her nose and mouth until she stopped moving. She then covered her grandmother’s body with a blanket and left her in bed for four days while she decided what to do with the corpse.
At some point, Durkee says she determined she would light their house on fire with herself and her 2-year-old daughter inside. She later amended her plan and decided that she and her daughter would leave the residence before the fire spread.
Durkee is being charged with four felony counts that include intentional homicide, strangulation and suffocation, arson of a building and mutilating a corpse, the complaint says.
source: people.com
