ROTTEN JOB

Son Stole Dad’s Cash While Leaving Body to Decompose in Recliner Chair for Years, Police Say

“In my 28 years of law enforcement, this type of investigation is extremely rare,” a sheriff’s office lieutenant said.

A man who died in July is suspected of having left his father’s body to rot for years in order to get hold of his money, authorities say. Randall Freer, 63, died last month in Jackson, California, after suffering an undisclosed medical condition, Calaveras County Sheriff’s Office Lt. Greg Stark said. When a deputy was dispatched to carry out a next-of-kin notification at Freer’s father’s home in Wallace, California, he heard what sounded like a fan running. Peering through the window, the deputy saw a body sitting in a recliner. Stark said the advanced state of decomposition suggested the man had been in the chair for more than three years. “It was severely decomposed with partial skeletal remains,” he said. “In my 28 years of law enforcement, this type of investigation is extremely rare. We don’t typically find someone who has been dead for so long inside a residence.” The man in the chair was confirmed to be Ada Clinton Freer, Randall’s father. It emerged that Randall was collecting funds from his father’s account until his own death in July. “The son assumed the dad’s identity, and I suspect that he was probably living with his dad and living off his father,” Calaveras County Coroner Kevin Raggio said.