An Arizona man allegedly kept his father's body in a freezer in his backyard for four years because he was afraid of losing their family home, according to a report.
Police followed up on a tip that Joseph Daniel Hill Jr., 51, was storing his father's body in a stand-up freezer at his home in Tempe. Hill denied police access until they later sent detectives with a search warrant.
Hill then warned arriving officers that, "there was going to be something in the freezer," court documents obtained by Arizona's Family revealed.
Detectives found skeletal remains and an "extensive amount of biological matter" after removing a tarp, two moving blankets, layers of saran wrap, bedsheets, ratchet straps and multiple layers of duct tape from the freezer, Arizona's Family reported.
Hill allegedly admitted he was there when his father died in the home four years prior, but he did not report it because he was not on the house's deed and thought he would lose it. He reportedly said he originally planned on burning his father at another property, but there were "always people out there," according to court documents.
Over the last four to six months, Arizona's Family reported the freezer has remained in Hill's backyard without power after a fire occurred in his current home.
Hill was arrested and booked into the Maricopa County Jail while a medical examiner confirms it is his father's body, while also determining the cause of death.
Originally published on Latin Times.
