A woman in Brooklyn, Heather Stines, 45, has been taken into custody following the discovery of a man’s severed head and other body parts in a taped-up freezer at a Brooklyn apartment. The police made the grim finding around 6:15 am (local time) on Monday. The authorities arrived at the fourth-floor apartment after acting on a tip suggesting a body might be “stored” in the house, reported the NY Post.
New York Police Department Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said, “During the course of patrol’s investigation, they came across some body parts in the freezer. At this point we’re trying to identify that person,” adding, “We have a head. We have some limbs. As of right now, it seems like we have the whole body.”
The refrigerator was reportedly taped-up and sealed shut to prevent the odour from escaping. Mr Kenny revealed that the identification process is underway, and a post-mortem examination will be conducted by doctors to determine the precise cause of death.
Heather Stines’ 79-year-old aunt, Amy Stines, said, “Oh God, I just can’t fathom this.” She shared that her niece had struggled with drug problems and moved away from Kentucky years ago to escape them. Now, Heather Stines lives with her husband in a Brooklyn apartment, earning money by cleaning, the aunt added. Amy Stines had reportedly tried reaching out to her niece on Sunday but had received no response.
Heather Stines’ husband, Nicholas McGee, has been in a Virginia jail since September, facing charges related to attempting to cash a fraudulent check. Mr McGee was due to appear in court Tuesday morning, his sister-in-law Catherine McGee said. She told Daily Mail that the couple are both drug abusers, who had used heroin and crack, and had been arrested multiple times. She said Heather relapsed a “year or two” ago after learning that one of her daughters had died of a drug overdose. “He’s going to be f**king devastated because he’s coming out of jail and she’s possibly going into jail, for a possible murder,” she said.
Currently, Ms Stines is admitted to the hospital due to reported illness. As of Tuesday afternoon, investigators have been unable to interview her as she continues to receive medical attention. She has not been charged yet.