Authorities in Tempe, Arizona, arrested 51-year-old Joseph Hill Jr. last week on multiple charges, including concealing a body and failing to report a death not under medical care. Hill allegedly kept his deceased father in a freezer for four years, fearing he would lose his residence if he reported the death, CNN International reported.
The investigation began when police received a tip online, accusing Hill of hiding his father’s remains in a freezer covered with a tarpaulin and blankets in his backyard. When officers arrived to question him, Hill claimed his father had passed away in Oregon four years ago. However, attempts to verify the elder Hill’s death proved inconclusive. Records showed the father, also named Joseph Hill, was listed as the property’s owner and continued to receive Social Security benefits up until March 2023.
Upon obtaining a search warrant, officers returned to Hill’s residence, where he admitted that his father’s body was in the freezer. He explained that after his father died at home, he bought the freezer to preserve the remains, intending to eventually bury him on a plot he purchased in Strawberry, Arizona. He cited concerns about losing his home, as his name was not on the property deed, as the reason for concealing the death.
Hill stated that he had moved the freezer multiple times due to power outages caused by fires, but in recent months, the freezer had remained in his Tempe backyard without power. Investigators removed the freezer’s coverings, uncovering human skeletal remains and biological material.
The Maricopa County Medical Examiner’s Office is yet to release an autopsy report. Hill’s bond has been set at $25,000, and a preliminary hearing is scheduled for November 4.
