An American man has died of a “cardiac case” in the yard of his South Carolina home while burying a woman he had strangled, local authorities said Wednesday.
Police officials responded to reports of an unconscious man in the southeastern city of Trenton and found 60-year-old Joseph McKinnon dead upon arrival at the home, Edgefield County Sheriff Jody Rowland confirmed Tuesday. , and the coroner of that jurisdiction, David Burnett, in a statement released by local media.
“McKinnon showed no signs of trauma and it is suspected that he died of natural causes,” the statement said.
“While the death was being investigated and relatives notified, a second body was located in a newly opened grave. Patricia Ruth Dent, 65, from the same address, who appeared to have died of a crime.”
Dent was found tied up and wrapped in garbage bags inside the pit. Autopsies confirmed the causes of both deaths.
Evidence and witness statements indicate that McKinnon attacked Dent at his home.