‘Unbearable’ Odor of Rotting Corpse Prompts Mom to Turn in Son on Mother’s Day

An odor that Walled Lake Police Chief Paul Shakinas described as “pretty unbearable” caused the mother of a 21-year-old Walled Lake man to turn her son into authorities after she visited him on Mother's Day.

When they investigated, police found the badly decomposing body of the man’s neighbor in the closet of the suspect's unit in the Tivoli Apartments in Walled Lake,  the Detroit Free Press reports.

The suspect had used cat litter deodorizer powder and other air freshening products to try to mask the putrid smell of the rotting body, which police say may have been in the closet for two weeks.

The suspect, who has not been named, confessed to his mother after she questioned him about the smell, Shakinas said. The suspect gave a statement to police, but they haven’t released details.

An autopsy confirmed that the victim, a 51-year-old neighbor of the suspect, had been repeatedly stabbed. The man’s death was ruled a homicide, an official with the Oakland County Medical Examiner’s Office said.

Police are familiar with both the victim, who also has not been named, and the suspect. Police have had nearly two dozen contacts with the suspect, including a recent arrest for alleged drunken driving.