Man allegedly kept father‘s decomposing body in freezer to avoid losing home, police say

TEMPE, AZ. (KPHO/Gray News) - A man in Arizona allegedly kept his dad‘s body stored in a backyard freezer for years because he didn’t want to lose the home.

Tempe police received an online tip that a man was storing his father’s body in a stand-up freezer behind a home.

When officers arrived, they spoke with 51-year-old Joseph Daniel Hill Jr., who said his father died four years ago in Oregon.

Hill refused the officers' request to inspect the freezer in the backyard, and the case was turned over to detectives for follow-up, KPHO reported.

Investigators used “extensive resources” to learn more about Joseph Hill Sr. but could find no record of his death.

Detectives found that Hill Sr. was still listed as the owner of the home and that he had collected Social Security benefits until March 2023.

Detectives obtained a search warrant and returned to the home.

According to documents, Hill Jr.‘s demeanor changed, and he told police, “there was going to be something in the freezer.”

Once in the backyard, detectives removed a tarp, two moving blankets, several layers of saran wrap, bed sheets, two ratchet straps and multiple layers of duct tape from the freezer.

Inside, documents said police found skeletal remains and an “extensive amount of biological matter.”

After being read his Miranda Rights, the man allegedly told detectives that he was there when his father “took his last breath” at the home more than four years ago.

He allegedly admitted to not reporting the death because he was not on the deed and was afraid of losing the home.

After his dad died, he bought the freezer the next day. He said he was planning to bury him on a plot of land he bought, however, he said there was a fire at the property and he lost power, so he eventually brought the freezer back to Tempe.

Documents said the freezer has since remained in the backyard without power for the last four to six months.

He was arrested and charged with one count of failure to report a death and one count of concealing a dead body.

It will now be up to the Maricopa County Office of the Medical Examiner to confirm if the body is Hill Sr., and try to determine how he died.