Shocking, utterly shocking story about a murder.

[Rain Man]

Okay, the murder is shocking, and living in the house for the next 28 years with your wife's body hidden behind a wall is really shocking. But I'm most shocked by the name of the elementary school.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/07/02/justic...html?hpt=hp_t2

Missing woman's body found 28 years later, behind false wall

(CNN) -- The hidden skeleton of a woman who had been missing for 28 years came to light when a contractor cleaned out a vacant home in the Town of Poughkeepsie, New York.

The gruesome find was uncovered behind a 'false wall' in the basement of the home the woman had shared with her late husband, police said.

Joann Nichols' remains were found inside a large plastic bin, inside a plastic bag and wrapped in a sheet, said Dr. Kari Reiber, the Dutchess County Medical Examiner.

"The body was skeletonized and the hands were tied with rope. ... A large area of the right side of the skull was also missing," Reiber said.

Joann Nichols was reported missing in 1985 and her body was found behind a false wall in her late husband's house.

Sealing the body in the plastic bin behind a false wall might have been enough to mask the smell as the body decomposed, she said.

Members of the medical examiner's office removed the body after it was found Friday and were able to identify Nichols through dental records. An autopsy showed the cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head, according to Reiber.

Nichols, a 55-year-old former first-grade teacher at Gayhead Elementary School in Hopewell Junction New York, was reported missing on December 21, 1985, by her husband, James Nichols.

Police said he called in the report after his wife didn't show up for a hair appointment at a beauty parlor earlier that day. The next day the couple's vehicle was discovered in the parking lot of a shopping center in the town.
Police Chief Thomas Mauro said an intensive investigation followed, but the woman was never located. The case had remained open since 1985 and was reviewed annually by police, he said.

James Nichols was found dead in the home on December 27 after concerned neighbors called police because they had not seen him in several days. He was 82 and died of natural causes, police said.

Officers said they found the house filled with personal items, debris and garbage.

No one in Nichols' family came forward to claim his body or take control of his estate, so Dutchess County Commissioner of Finance Pamela Barrack was appointed as temporary administrator, according to Barrack's attorney, Kelly Traver.

"We were only able to locate two family members of Mr. Nichols, but they were not able to claim his body," Traver said.

Nichols was buried by the Dutchess County Department of Community and Family Services in an unknown location, Traver said.

The Town of Poughkeepsie Police Department said it has not closed the case and will continue to examine the new forensic evidence.

"It's now safe to say James Nichols is a suspect in this case," said police Capt. Paul LeComte.

The Town of Poughkeepsie surrounds the City of Poughkeepsie in southeastern New York State, about 70 miles north of New York City.

Originally Posted by KILLER_CLOWN

I wonder if it was strange going downstairs to get the laundry? walking down the stairs thinking...I wonder how my dead wife is doing?

Obviously he wasn't stressing over it too much. He lived to a ripe old age. She was just ripe.

[frankotank]

Originally Posted by cdcox

So did he tie her hands before he wacked her in the head or after?

It would seem like it would be easier to tie her hands after he'd wacked her.

But if he wacked her so hard she was missing part of her head, why did he bother to tie her hands?

The only logical conclusion is that this is part of the government conspiracy that brought down the World Trade Center.

[Baby Lee]

I can't get away with bananas two days past ripeness.

[BlackHelicopters]

Originally Posted by Baby Lee

I can't get away with bananas two days past ripeness.