Woman accused of stuffing man’s body in trash can dies
GULFPORT, Miss. (AP) – A 63-year-old Long Beach woman accused of cutting a pacemaker out of her dead boyfriend’s chest and then stuffing his body in a trash can has died.
Media outlets report Harrison County Coroner Gary Hargrove says Christy Lee Zarrella died Thursday of natural causes at a hospital.
Zarrella was in police custody on charges in connection with the death of 87-year-old Edward A. Miller, whose body was found Oct. 22 in a trash can in the backyard of home they shared.
Zarrella pleaded guilty in November to failure to report Miller’s death, though she still faced felony charges for tampering with evidence and desecration of a corpse.
According to affidavits, Zarrella told investigators Miller died of natural causes and she panicked and put his body in a trash can.
