Police: Woman lived with sister's corpse for more than year

BROOKLINE, Mass. — Police are investigating the death of a woman they suspect happened more than a year ago in a Brookline home.

The Norfolk County District Attorney said a 67-year-old woman was found dead on Dec. 14 in a home on Clinton Road. The initial autopsy results indicate the body may have been there for more than a year.

WSB-TV's sister-station, FOX25, learned the woman's 74-year-old sister was living in the home the entire time, but has since been removed.

“They really wanted to be alone,” Harriet Allen, a neighbor, said. “Very private.”

The home has been described as a hoarding situation.

Jim Dibenedetto, the owner of haz-mat cleanup company Bio-Pro Boston, said many of the hoarding cleanups he deals with involved people with mental illness and the elderly.

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“We have to understand this is a disease, not a character trait. These people don't even realize it,” he said.

Allen said she noticed a foul smell coming from the home a few months ago and talked to her daughter-in-law about it.

“I said ‘Patty, I smell something dreadful, why don't you go over and see if I'm right.’ She came back and said, 'Oh, something terrible,'” Allen said.

The older sister is now being taken care of by family members. The District Attorney's office says there are no initial signs of foul play.

Information from FOX25 was used in this report.

Cox Media Group