Man watches over dead wife for months, investigated for concealing corpse

The 75-year-old man who kept vigil over his dead wife for months in Casale Litta (Varese) before the Carabinieri of the Mornago station discovered the incident on the evening of July 31 is under investigation for concealment of a corpse.

The man, it seems, continued to live in the house in Casale Litta where the couple had moved (they had previously lived in Vergiate) with the body of his 65-year-old wife in the marital bed. When the military, alerted by some family members unable to contact the 65-year-old, rang the intercom of the house, the immense sadness of what had happened was revealed to them.

The 75-year-old man who opened the door, found in a state of confusion, for months was unable to accept the death of his wife who had been ill for several years, was the one who opened the door. The woman, from an initial investigation, would have died of natural causes.

The husband would have kept her there, in the marital bed, with the covers tucked in, for months as the very advanced state of decomposition of the corpse would indicate. The judicial authority will order an autopsy to establish when, but above all how, of death.

The investigation, coordinated by the public prosecutor of Busto Arsizio (Varese) Massimo De Filippo, will also have to clarify why the 75-year-old did not report his wife’s death or did not call for help. The man would have even made excuses such as, “she’s out” or “she’s in the clinic” to other family members who asked to speak to the 65-year-old. Until they made the call to the police.