In a scene that resembles something out of The Walking Dead, a Canadian woman received 18-months probation after police found the corpse of her deceased husband locked in a bedroom. The reason? Her and the rest of the family were waiting for him to return from the dead. From The Independent:
Devout Christian Kaling Wald told neighbours that her husband Peter was “in God’s hands now” when they inquired where he was following his apparent disappearance in March 2013, the Hamilton Spectator reported.
Meanwhile, the 52-year-old was lying dead in a locked upstairs bedroom in his family’s home in Hamilton, Ontario. For six months his body lay decomposing and surrounded by rats, as Mrs Wald and her family prayed for his soul.
The corpse was eventually discovered on 17 September 2013, after the Sheriff arrived to evict the family for defaulting on the mortgage.
Investigators allegedly found Peter Wald’s body in an advanced stage of decomposition, so much that the smell filled the house and it was difficult for examiners to discover a cause of death. Kaling Wald was arrested and charged with the neglect of duty regarding a dead body and indignity to a body, but had them reduced to the probation after it was determined that her husband had died of natural causes and she mean no harm by her actions.
Even with the story coming to a close, the details behind the six months the corpse was in the home are creepy to say the least. The weirdest part is how Wald slept with her husband’s body right before he died, but noticed the bloating and rigor mortis already setting in. And then there’s the bit about the other people living in the house. From CBC:
“Kaling and her five children who resided in the house are devout Christians and thought Peter would be resurrected and therefore kept the door locked and waited for him to come to life,” Booy wrote. “There were also friends who resided at the house. They all prayed on a daily basis for Peter to come back to life.”
When I read this, the first thing to come to mind was Clara from the last season of The Walking Dead. Hell, anyone from the show with a fixation on their loved ones coming back (Hershel) fits the bill in this story. Don’t be surprised if you find a barn full of corpses somewhere in Canada.
(Via CBC / The Independent)