Police Found the Dead Woman, Then Looked in Her Freezer

Utah police responding to a welfare-check request on Nov. 22 discovered a 75-year-old woman dead in the Tooele apartment. Then they found the other body—in fetal position in a chest freezer, reports KUTV. It turned out to be that of Jeanne Souron-Mathers' husband, Paul Mathers, who police discovered was last seen in 2009. Tooele City Police Department Sgt. Jeremy Hansen initially told the Salt Lake Tribune that foul play was suspected; last week he said the investigation was working to obtain Mathers' medical records that might identify health issues. Then they found the notarized letter.

Hansen tells the Tribune the letter, which was allegedly signed by Mathers on Dec. 2, 2008, stated that Mathers' wife "was not responsible for his death." He continued, "There's more in the letter, but we're not releasing it yet." The woman who notarized it has been interviewed; she said she did not read the document. Hansen says the investigation has found Mathers, who was 58 at the time of his death, was "terminally ill," and that his wife received some $157,000 in VA benefits after his death, leading some to speculate the couple may have plotted to conceal Mathers' death so his wife could maintain an income stream. A neighbor tells Fox13 Souron-Mathers' had always maintained that her husband walked out on her. A cause of death is pending. (More strange stuff stories.)