A South Carolina man has died of a heart attack while trying to secretly bury his girlfriend in the backyard of their home after strangling her, according to local authorities.
The Edgefield County Sheriff's Office was alerted Saturday by neighbors and found 60-year-old Joseph McKinnon dead in his home next to a body bag in a freshly dug hole in the ground.
The woman was identified by Patricia Ruth Dent, 65, and according to local authorities was McKinnon's girlfriend.
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"McKinnon exhibited no signs of trauma and the causes [of death] are suspected to be natural. While the death was being investigated and relatives were notified, another body was located in a freshly dug grave," police said in a statement. .
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Autopsies showed the man died of a "cardiac event" while the woman died of "strangulation."
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According to evidence gathered by officers, McKinnon attacked his girlfriend inside the house, then tied her up and wrapped her in garbage bags so he could stuff her into the hole he had previously dug.
"While he was covering the grave, McKinnon suffered the cardiac event, causing her death," investigators said.
Neighbors of the man were terrified at the discovery.
Dawn Howanietz, who lives a block away, told NBC News in South Carolina that she feels insecure: "Do we have to make sure everything is locked up, watch our dogs or our animals? (... .) is terrifying," he said.