South Carolina Man Found Dead in Backyard After Having Heart Attack While Burying Girlfriend He Strangled, Police Say
Screenshot via WJBF.
Karma came quickly for a South Carolina man who police say died of a heart attack while burying his murdered girlfriend in the backyard of the home they shared.
On Saturday, an emergency call was made to report “an unresponsive male lying in his yard,” and Edgefield County, South Carolina deputies found Joseph McKinnon, 60, dead next to a recently-dug pit behind the house, which contained the body of Patricia Dent, 65.
Edgefield County Sheriff Jody Rowland told reporters that evidence and witness statements showed that McKinnon had apparently strangled Dent in their shared home, bound her, wrapped her body in trash bags, and then dug the pit in the backyard to bury her.
Autopsies of the couple showed that McKinnon had died from a “cardiac event,” said Rowland, and Dent to have died from strangulation.
The victim’s sister confirmed that Dent had been McKinnon’s girlfriend and expressed shock at what had occurred. As reported by Law & Crime:
“I would say a nightmare, and I want to wake up, and it’s a dream,” Dent’s twin sister Pamela Briggs said. “I know it’s not. This is reality and life, and a big part of me is gone, and now I’m going to have to live with that.”
Briggs said she saw no signs that the alleged events were about to happen.
“Everybody who ever met her liked her,” she said. “She was just full of energy. She was 65 and working.”
Rowland and Edgefield County Coroner David Burnett issued a statement:
On Saturday morning Deputies along with the Edgefield County Coroner’s Office, and Edgefield County EMS responded to 102 Tanglewood Drive in Trenton, South Carolina to a call of an unresponsive man lying in his yard. Joseph Anthony McKinnon, 60, of the same address was found to be deceased in his yard.
Mr. McKinnon had no signs of trauma and natural causes were suspected. While investigating the death and making notifications to the next of kin, a second body, was located in a freshly dug pit. Patricia Ruth Dent, 65, of the same address appeared to have died by foul play.
On Monday, autopsies were performed on both bodies, and the cause of death for Mr. McKinnon was confirmed to be a cardiac event. Ms. Dent was found to have died by strangulation.
Evidence gathered at the scene, along with statements from witnesses aided investigators to build a timeline, leading us to believe that Mr. McKinnon attacked Ms. Dent while inside their home.
Mr. McKinnon then bound her and wrapped her in trash bags before putting her in the previously dug pit. The pit was then partially filled in by Mr. McKinnon. While covering the pit, Mr. McKinnon had the cardiac event, causing his death.
Watch the video above, via WJBF.
