Dead Woman on Toilet Since March 4th

Body of woman, 90, found on toilet in inhabited Wis. home


© 2008 The Associated Press
NECEDAH, Wis. ?- A sheriff's deputy discovered the remains of a 90-year-old woman on a toilet in a house she apparently shared with a woman and two children.

Juneau County District Attorney Scott Southworth charged 35-year-old Tammy Lewis and 57-year-old Alan Bushey on Friday with two felony counts of being a party to causing mental harm to a child. Southworth also charged Lewis with obstructing an officer, a misdemeanor.

According to a criminal complaint filed Friday, Bernice Metz contacted the Juneau County Sheriff's Office on Wednesday and asked if a deputy could check on her 90-year-old sister, Magdeline Alvina Middlesworth. Metz said no one had heard from Middlesworth for some time.

When Deputy Leigh Neville-Neil arrived at the house in the town of Necedah, she encountered Lewis, also known as Sister Mary Bernadett, the complaint said. Lewis initially refused to allow the deputy to check on Middlesworth, telling her Middlesworth was on vacation but she didn't know where or how long she would be gone.

The deputy told Lewis she needed to be sure Middlesworth was alive and well. Lewis began to tear up but told the deputy Middlesworth was fine.

When the deputy asked to come inside again, Lewis told her she had to go in and call her "superior."

When Lewis returned, she seemed calmer, and she let the deputy inside.

The house smelled of incense and burnt wood, had religious materials everywhere and also had religious hymns playing on the stereo, according to the complaint.

As the deputy opened doors in the house, Lewis again told her Middlesworth wasn't home.

When the deputy opened the last closed door, she smelled "decaying matter" and noticed something piled on what appeared to be a toilet, and Lewis told her it was Middlesworth's body, the complaint said.

The deputy ordered Lewis' children ?- a 15-year-old girl and a 12-year-old boy ?- out of the house because of the stench. Lewis and the children began crying hysterically outside.

Lewis told the deputy Middlesworth died about two months earlier, but God told her Middlesworth would come to life if she prayed hard enough.

She said she couldn't say anything more until she spoke with her "superior" Bushey, also known as Bishop John Peter Bushey.

When Bushey arrived, Lewis told the deputy Middlesworth appeared to pass out while Lewis was helping her into her underwear.

She said she had propped Middlesworth on the toilet and left the room to call Bushey, who told her to leave the woman be and pray for her, the complaint said. He said he had received signs from God that God would raise her from the dead with a miracle.

Lewis went on to say she thought Middlesworth was still breathing when she put her on the toilet and called Bushey rather than an ambulance. She later told a detective she put the woman on the toilet on March 4.

The boy told a detective on Thursday he referred to Middlesworth as "grandmother," although the complaint doesn't explain whether Middlesworth was related to anyone in the home. The boy said he considered running away because he was uncomfortable with the situation.

The boy said Bushey told him Middlesworth looked bad because demons were trying to make it look like she wouldn't come back to life, and if she were to be discovered he and the girl would have to go to public school and get jobs because Middlesworth paid the bills.

The complaint did not include any charges specifically related to the body.

A message The Associated Press left for Southworth seeking further comment wasn't immediately returned.

Bushey and Lewis are scheduled to make an initial court appearance May 19.

Computerized state court records had no attorney listed as yet for them.