Mother, Son go out for Pizza leaving the relative to die

When Mary Coleman died in May 2009, 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.

The short answer: According to a September 2011 criminal complaint in Madison, Wisconsin, Veronica King and her son Steven King hid Mary Coleman's body in their home for over three months after her death, and were charged with first-degree reckless homicide, bank fraud, hiding a corpse, and related counts. All details below are as alleged in the complaint and police records at the time.

What did the complaint allege?

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, 70, had fallen in a bedroom on May 7, 2009, 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, according to the complaint.

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."

What were they charged with?

Veronica King, 71, of Madison, and Steven King, 45, of Evansville, were charged with first-degree reckless homicide, bank fraud, hiding a corpse, and recklessly subjecting an individual at risk to abuse. The complaint also alleged that for months after Coleman's death, Veronica King withdrew cash and wrote checks from Coleman's bank account, where her pension and Social Security payments were automatically deposited.

How was the body discovered?

In April 2009, Dane County social workers had gotten involved after a bank worker expressed concern about Coleman's health. A social worker last saw her at Veronica King's house on April 30, 2009; Coleman canceled a doctor's appointment set for the next day. Then, on August 15, 2009, Veronica King's guardian called police out of concern. Officers smelled what they believed to be human remains at the Whenona Drive home and found Coleman's body, wrapped in plastic bags, in the garage.

According to the complaint, Steven King said that on May 6, 2009, he and his mother knew Coleman was sick but wouldn't take her to the doctor because it was his birthday. They hid Coleman from a visiting nurse on May 7; she fell after the nurse left. Veronica King said that as her sister lay dying, she gave her only liquids but no food.

Coleman's doctor told police she had suffered a stroke earlier and likely suffered another that kept her from getting off the floor — and that had she received medical care, she could have survived and recovered.

Who was Mary Coleman?

Coleman was retired from AT&T and later worked part-time at Culver's and a nursing home. She had bought the house at 1606 Whenona Drive with her sister in 1970 but moved to her own apartment in 1998. A cousin told police Coleman remained deeply involved in the lives of her sister and nephew. A 2009 search warrant noted that Steven King had untreated mental illnesses, including schizophrenia, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and Asperger's syndrome.

Note: this article reflects the charges and allegations as reported in September 2011. Source: Wisconsin State Journal (original 2011 link no longer verifiable).