Canada family lived with corpse for 6 months awaiting resurrection
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
A Canadian family lived with a corpse in their upstairs bedroom for
six months because they believed the deceased man would be resurrected
if they prayed, but the body was discovered when the family was
evicted for not paying the mortgage.
Kaling Wald, 50, pleaded guilty to failing to notify police that her
husband had died, an offense under the provincial Coroner's Act, and
was sentenced on Monday to probation and counseling, her lawyer told
Reuters on Tuesday.
Peter Wald, 52, died in March 2013 of what authorities believe were
natural causes following a foot infection linked to his diabetes,
defense lawyer Peter Boushy said.
His wife Kaling Wald left him in bed and sealed up the bedroom in
their Hamilton, Ontario, home to prevent the odor of decomposition
from disturbing the busy household, which included five of the
couple's six children, as well as other adults living in the home.
"Just as Jesus raised Lazarus after the fourth day, so too did she
believe God would resurrect her husband in due time," said Boushy.
The family was active in Christian street ministry and outreach in
Hamilton, an industrial city about 70 kms southwest of Toronto.
"There clearly was an over-exuberance of one's faith," he added.
The corpse was discovered in September 2013 when the local sheriff
arrived to evict the family after they defaulted on the mortgage. It
had attracted rodents and was badly decomposed, but the family had
packed his things in preparation for the eviction and did not attempt
to conceal the corpse.
The Children's Aid Society investigated the family after the discovery
of the corpse, but found no concerns and the case was closed,
documents showed.
Boushy said his client now understands what the law required and would
not do the same thing again.
"She certainly was remorseful, and definitely was teary-eyed," he
said. "Indeed, she noted that she was never actually able to cry over
the passing of her husband, but this seemed to have been an emotional
breakthrough after the court proceedings yesterday. I think counseling
is certainly going to be beneficial for her."
Credit: TORONTO (Reuters)