Woman who lived with sister’s dead body for months won’t be charged

BEND, Ore. – A district attorney in Oregon says he won’t file charges against a woman who lived for months in a house with the dead body of her sister, saying that while norms of decency may have been violated, no crime was committed.

Deschutes County District Attorney John Hummel said Monday that Christine Freise, 63, died in November 2015 of natural causes in La Pine. Her sister, Elizabeth Freise, left her in her bed. In April, paramedics came to the house after Elizabeth was injured, and noticed a stench. Authorities discovered Christine Freise’s decomposed body, several dead and live cats and garbage covering the floors.

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Hummel said that Elizabeth Freise wasn’t her sister’s legal caregiver and that while her handling of her sister’s death was “shocking and appalling,” her inaction wasn’t criminal.