Man kept living with his dead roommate for month

PUNTA GORDA - A man kept the decomposing body of his 86-year-old roommate in their house for a month while he used the dead man's ATM card and cashed his checks, police said.

David Morse, 40, told police that he didn't report roommate John Jones' death because Morse had active arrest warrants for failing to pay child support and he feared he would be implicated in the death, Punta Gorda Deputy Police Chief Butch Arenal said.

The body was discovered in a bedroom of the small house Thursday after a rent collector stopped by, smelled a foul odor and contacted authorities, Arenal said.

A cause of death has not been determined, but Morse told police Jones died of natural causes in bed about a month ago.

Morse was held in jail Friday in lieu of $1,070 bail on the child support warrant.

He will be charged with fraud for allegedly using Jones' ATM card and checks to withdraw $2,000 from his bank account, Arenal said.

Police are trying to determine whether he can be charged for not reporting the death.

Morse appeared in court Friday, but Arenal said it was not clear if an attorney had been appointed for him yet.

[Last modified September 28, 2007, 23:33:07]