Current:Home > StocksThey found a head in her fridge. She blamed her husband. Now she's charged in the case.-LoTradeCoin
They found a head in her fridge. She blamed her husband. Now she's charged in the case.
View Date:2025-01-11 09:14:27
A New York City woman previously taken for a psychiatric evaluation after police said they found human remains including a man's head in a taped up refrigerator in her home was due in court Monday after being arrested in connection to the grisly discovery.
Heather Stines, 45, of Brooklyn, is charged with concealment of a human corpse after body parts were discovered at her apartment in the city's in East Flatbush neighborhood in the city's southeast area, a New York City Police Department spokesperson confirmed to USA TODAY on Monday.
According to police, officers responded to the home for a welfare check just after 7 p.m. on Jan 22 and "observed an unconscious and unresponsive unidentified male inside the apartment."
Paramedics pronounced the man dead on scene, police said, and as of Monday, the New York City' medical examiner's office had not yet determined the man's cause of death, a police spokesperson told USA TODAY.
The case also remained active, police said, and remained under investigation.
Human remains found in freezer:Police investigating homicide after human remains found in freezer of Colorado home
Victim identified through fingerprints as Kawsheen Gelzer
Officials confirmed the victim was identified by the medical examiner through fingerprints as Kawsheen Gelzer.
Online records show Gelzer was age 40 when he died and was a registered sex offender.
'Without ventilation and without water':Man opens emergency exit door on plane, walks out onto wing before takeoff
A tip, a welfare check and an arrest
Police have not yet said how long they believe the body had been in the fridge.
Officers initially responded to a tip from someone who said they saw what appeared to be a human head in a black bag in the refrigerator of Stines' home, according to court records and information obtained by the New York Times and the Associated Press.
USA TODAY has requested the police report from the Kings County Criminal Court clerk's office, where online records show it was filed.
When officers visited Stines' home, the Associated Press reported, they found multiple black bags in the refrigerator and freezer full of body parts.
"The refrigerator was taped shut at the time," Joseph E. Kenny, NYPD chief of detectives, said after the find the Times reported and − according to the police report, Stines pleaded with the officers not to open it."
According to police, Stines told detectives the body had been in the fridge "for several months" and belonged to a man who her husband had an argument with over drugs in September, the Times reported. The woman allegedly told investigators her husband killed the man and put his body in their refrigerator.
Two days after the body was found, on Jan. 24, police said they arrested Wells in connection to the finding.
After her arrest, Stine was taken for a psychiatric evaluation at a local hospital then was later booked into jail.
So far no other arrests made in case
As of Monday, police told USA TODAY no other arrests had been made in the case.
The suspect's 79-year-old aunt, Aime Stines, told the Times her niece moved to New York City around eight years ago after her father died and had "a history of drug use but never appeared to be violent."
“There is no way − I couldn’t believe it,” Stines told the Times she recalled after her niece’s arrest. “Heather was always smiling and talking. She has this voice where she talks so fast that I can hardly understand her. She always seemed happy.”
A $50,000 bond and a not guilty plea
Court records show Stines pleaded not guilty to the charge in Brooklyn Criminal Court on Jan. 25 and was set to reappear in court Monday in connection to the case.
Records also show Stines remained in custody on $50,000 bond on Monday.
USA TODAY has reached out to Stines' attorney.
Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at [email protected] and follow her on X @nataliealund.
veryGood! (126)
Related
- A herniated disc is painful, debilitating. How to get relief.
- Quaker Oats recalls some granola bars and cereals nationwide over salmonella risk
- Yes, that’s Martha Stewart at 14. Why holiday nostalgia is healthy.
- Prosecutors say Washington state man charged in 4 murders lured victims with promise of buried gold
- Certifying this year’s presidential results begins quietly, in contrast to the 2020 election
- Prolific Chicago sculptor whose public works explored civil rights, Richard Hunt dies at 88
- Quaker Oats recalls granola products over concerns of salmonella contamination
- Anthony Anderson to host the Emmy Awards, following strike-related delays
- Judith Jamison, a dancer both eloquent and elegant, led Ailey troupe to success over two decades
- A rare Italian vase bought at Goodwill for $3.99 was just sold for over $100,000
Ranking
- College Football Playoff ranking release: Army, Georgia lead winners and losers
- Don't Get Knocked Down by These Infamous Celebrity Feuds
- Mayim Bialik announces she's 'no longer' hosting 'Jeopardy!'
- UK parliamentarian admits lying about lucrative pandemic contracts but says she’s done nothing wrong
- Stock market today: Asian stocks dip as Wall Street momentum slows with cooling Trump trade
- College Football Playoff committee responds to Sen. Rick Scott on Florida State snub
- Costco members buy over $100 million in gold bars, stock rises after earnings call
- Author receives German prize in scaled-down format after comparing Gaza to Nazi-era ghettos
Recommendation
-
Democratic state leaders prepare for a tougher time countering Trump in his second term
-
'Wait Wait' for December 16, 2023: Live at Carnegie with Bethenny Frankel
-
WWE's Charlotte Flair out of action for 9 months after knee injury suffered on 'Smackdown'
-
Probation ordered for boy, 13, after plea in alleged plan for mass shooting at Ohio synagogue
-
Shawn Mendes Confesses He and Camila Cabello Are No Longer the Closest
-
27 Practical Gifts From Amazon That People Will Actually Want To Receive for the Holidays
-
Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants Stars Have a Full Cast Reunion That Will Lift Your Spirits
-
Indiana parents asking U.S. Supreme Court to take case involving custody of trans teen