Dead woman left on floor for two years
Kathleen Wilson lay on the kitchen floor of her Fairfield, California, home for nearly two years after she died, her son and husband stepping around the remains as they prepared meals and went on with daily life.
Fairfield police discovered the corpse and arrested her son, Jack Wilson, 48, Friday afternoon on suspicion of elder abuse. A concerned neighbour had reported not seeing the elderly woman in about a year.
Jack Wilson told police his mother had fallen in the kitchen sometime in mid-2003 and she had remained there ever since, said Fairfield police Sergeant Mike Johnstone.
“He says he left her in the kitchen and tried to feed her and take care of her for a couple weeks before she died,” Johnstone said.
Jack Wilson has been cooperative with the investigation. Police said he understood his mother was dead, but why he never tried to get her medical attention or report her death remains unclear.
“He didn’t have an answer for that,” Johnstone said.
Jack’s father, Harry Wilson, 81, was taken into the care of Adult Protective Services. He returned home from a walk as officers were arresting his son and asked where his wife was, Johnstone said.
A county social worker went to the Utah Street home for a welfare check Friday after a neighbour anonymously called Solano County’s Adult Protective Services tip line. The social worker called police after detecting a strange odour emanating from the residence, Johnstone said.
Police say the home was in disarray, littered with rubbish and cat faeces. Kathleen Wilson’s clothed remains lay uncovered on the kitchen floor.
“Harry and Jack lived there, they were at the house, they continued to use the kitchen,” Johnstone said.
Solano County Coroner’s officials conducted an autopsy yesterday, the results of which were not released. Police and the district attorney are waiting for the cause of death to determine whether additional charges should be brought against Jack Wilson.
Peggy Osborn, program manager for the Attorney General’s Office elder abuse public awareness campaign, said cases like Kathleen Wilson’s shock the public, but happen more often than most people realise.
“One thing about elder abuse, neglect or isolation is that it thrives on silence,” she said.
“What would have happened if someone had picked up a phone a year ago?”
Osborn says many individuals don’t report elder abuse because they think they have to witness a violent act or injury such as a broken arm, but that’s not true.
Individuals can anonymously report abuse or concern for an elderly person by calling a toll free state hotline.
“If someone had picked up a phone and said, ‘I haven’t seen her in a while,’ that can save someone’s life,” Osborn said.
