A disturbing discovery in a quiet Yarmouth, N.S. neighbourhood has many residents shaking their heads in disbelief.
The body of an elderly man was found inside a home on Tuesday and police say it appears the man’s nephew had been hiding the body for quite some time.
Police were asked to check on the resident of a home on Grove Road around 2 p.m. Tuesday.
“Upon entering the residence they discovered the remains of a 76-year-old male,” confirms Yarmouth RCMP Const. Dana Patterson.
Police have identified the man as Stanley Ernest Adams.
Officers arrested his nephew, 43-year-old Timothy Stanley Adams, in connection with the case.
He is charged with one count of neglecting to perform duties with reference to burial and one count of offering indignities to human remains.
Police say Timothy Adams had been living in the home and allege he kept his uncle’s body hidden for “some time.”
There is no word on a cause of death but police say it is considered suspicious. An autopsy will be performed in Halifax.
“I couldn’t live in a house with someone who was dead,” says Dave Sollows, who has lived in the neighbourhood for 16 years.
“I couldn’t do it. It’s repulsive, just to think of it.”
Sollows says Stanley Adams was quiet and kept to himself.
“I hadn’t seen him for about a year.”
He says his neighbour hoarded cats and he grew suspicious about two months ago when a number of cats started showing up at his door looking for food.
Neighbours say they have seen very little of Adams in the last year, but they noticed his nephew had moved in.
CTV News spoke with Patricia Adams, mother of Timothy Adams, over the phone. She lives in Yarmouth but says she hasn’t spoken to her son in over 11 years.
Timothy Adams appeared in Yarmouth provincial court on Wednesday and was sent for an assessment at the East Coast Forensic Hospital in Dartmouth.
He is due back in court on Dec. 20.
With files from CTV Atlantic's Alyse Hand
