May 7, 2009 - Madison, WI
Mary Coleman died two days after she fell to the floor at her sister's house. Her sister and nephew decided there was nothing they could do about it and went out for pizza.
Veronica King and her son, Steven King, kept Coleman's death a secret, hiding her body in the basement and then the garage of the house on Whenona Drive until Madison Police
found her mummified remains more than three months later.
Steven and Veronica King told police that Coleman had fallen down in a bedroom, then lay there, talking now and then, until her death. "I told her quite frankly to shut up
because that old woman in the backyard" would call the police, Steven King told police.
After Coleman died, Veronica King told police, they didn't call to have her body removed "because we had other things to do that day"
Veronica King of Madison, and Steven King of Evansville, were charged with first-degree reckless homicide, bank fraud, hiding a corpse and recklessly subjecting an individual
at risk to abuse.
Veronica King withdrew cash and wrote checks from Coleman's bank account, where Coleman's pension and Social Security payments were automatically deposited.
Aug 15, 2009 - Madison, WI
Connie Downing, who was Veronica King's guardian for financial matters, called police out of concern for Coleman, whom nobody had seen. Police smelled what they believe to be
human remains at the Whenona Drive home and later found Coleman's body in the garage. Police found Coleman's partially mummified body on the floor inserted into two trash bags.
Downing, testified that she had been trying to find Coleman but was told by Steven King "I did not kill my Aunt Mary. I'm not going to take the blame for it."
Steven King has mental illnesses, including schizophrenia, obsessive-compulsive disorder and Asperger's syndrome, that went untreated. Madison police Detective Daniel Nale
testified that after initially denying that he knew where is aunt was, Steven King told him not to look in the garage "because there were items stacked in there that would fall
on us if we opened the door."
Mary Coleman (70) 1606 Whenona Drive
Veronica King (71) 1606 Whenona Drive
Steven King (45)
