Long-Dead Corpses Kept by Kin in 2 Separate Cases

FRESNO — When Bakersfield police found two people caring for a dead body propped up on a sofa in front of the television, they called it bizarre.

So what do you call it when an almost identical case turns up less than 100 miles away and just over a week later?

On Jan. 15, police say, they found Avon Griffis, 44, and her son, Damon Lee, 22, caring for Elizabeth Wilcher, Griffis’s 77-year-old mother, who had been dead for four to five months. Officers said the pair believed that the dead woman was simply “demonically depressed”--under a demon’s spell--and would wake up any minute.

Wilcher’s body was seated on the living room couch, neatly dressed, her eyes wide open.

“I’ve been here since 1977 and this has been the most bizarre case that we’ve come across,” Sgt. Bill Henry said.

Griffis and her son were hospitalized for psychiatric evaluations, but were released.

Then, on Jan. 23, police in Fresno, less than 100 miles to the north, found the remains of Geraldine Bennett, 63, in a bedroom in the home she had shared with her 40-year-old son. Investigators believe Bennett had been dead a year or longer.

The son, John Bennett, was hospitalized for psychiatric evaluation. He remains in custody.

There was no evidence of foul play in either case, and authorities were not sure whether criminal charges would be filed. Coroners in both cases have said their initial guess is that the women died of natural causes.