A son’s desperate attempt to keep his family home leads to a gruesome discovery in an Arizona backyard.
At a Glance
- Joseph Hill Jr. arrested for hiding his father’s body in a freezer for years
- Hill cashed his deceased father’s Social Security checks to maintain the family home
- Skeletal remains found wrapped in tarps, blankets, and Saran wrap
- Hill faces charges of concealing a body and failure to report a death
- Similar case in Oregon resulted in a 7-year prison sentence
Grim Discovery in Tempe Backyard
Arizona, authorities have uncovered a disturbing secret hidden in plain sight. Tempe resident Joseph Hill Jr. has been arrested following the discovery of his father’s body, concealed in a freezer for years in the family’s backyard. This macabre find came to light after the Tempe Police Department received a tip on October 22 about a possible dead body on Hill’s property.
Initially, Hill refused police access to the freezer, but investigators obtained a search warrant.
What they found was nothing short of horrifying: skeletal remains wrapped in a grotesque cocoon of tarps, blankets, Saran wrap, and duct tape. The freezer, which had been without power for the last six months, stood as a chilling testament to the lengths some will go to preserve their way of life.
A Desperate Act to Save a Family Home
Hill’s motivation for this gruesome act? Fear of losing the family home, which had been in their possession since the 1960s.
In a confession that stunned investigators, Hill admitted to purchasing the freezer specifically to store his father’s body after his death four years ago. This desperate measure allowed Hill to continue cashing his father’s Social Security checks until March 2023, using the funds to maintain the property and his lifestyle.
“His dad was frail, and he could barely walk. He was sick a lot,” a neighbor said.
The case has sent shockwaves through the community, leaving neighbors grappling with the unsettling reality that such a heinous act could occur so close to home.
One neighbor expressed the community’s disbelief, stating, “It’s definitely shocking, Especially when you have small children asking, ‘What happened at Joe’s house?'”
Hill now faces serious charges, including concealing a body and failure to report a death. He is currently held in Maricopa County Jail on a $25,000 cash bail, with the possibility of additional charges looming. This case bears a striking resemblance to another recent incident in Oregon, where Edward Conley Fitchett was sentenced to seven years in prison for a similar crime.
Fitchett’s case serves as a grim precedent for what Hill might face. The Oregon man pleaded guilty to second-degree abuse of a corpse and six counts of first-degree theft after hiding his father’s body in a freezer and continuing to spend his Social Security checks. Fitchett went to great lengths to conceal his actions, even going so far as to impersonate his deceased father in phone calls to cancel medical services.
