An Arizona man has been charged with keeping his deceased father in a backyard freezer for four years because he didn’t want to lose the home.
Joseph Daniel Hill Jr., 51, was arrested and jailed on one count of failure to report a death and one count of concealing a dead body after police discovered his father, Joseph Hill Sr.’s remains in a stand-up freezer behind a Tempe, Arizona, home on Oct. 25.
A bond of $25,000 was set for Hill’s release, and he is due for a preliminary hearing on Nov. 4.
The home where the body was found is listed under Hill Sr.’s name and is where Hill grew up. Hill reportedly told police that he didn’t report the death because his name wasn’t on the property deeds, and he feared losing his home.
Court documents obtained by CNN reveal that Tempe police received an online tip on Oct. 22, alleging that Hill had been storing his deceased father in a backyard freezer covered with a tarp and blankets.
Police visited Hill’s home that day but were denied access to inspect the freezer. Hill claimed his father had died in Oregon four years earlier, according to the statement.
Detectives couldn’t find Hill Sr.’s death record. Instead, they found records showing he was still listed as the homeowner and had been receiving Social Security benefits until March 2023.
Days later, detectives returned to Hill’s residence with a search warrant. After explaining the warrant’s terms, Hill’s demeanor shifted, and he admitted there would be “something in the freezer,” police reported.
Hill ultimately confessed that his father died at the residence four years ago. He then bought a freezer, intending to eventually bury him on land he’d purchased in Strawberry, Arizona, according to the statement.
His plans reportedly changed after a fire caused a power outage at the property, forcing him to return with his father’s remains to Tempe. A similar incident occurred at the home again in June 2023.
He admitted he had tried several times to bury the freezer in the desert but was deterred by people in the area, the documents said.
The freezer had been in his backyard without power for four to six months. Detectives removed layers of tarp, blankets, saran wrap, and duct tape, uncovering human skeletal remains and “an extensive amount of biological matter,” according to the documents.
The Maricopa County Medical Examiner’s Office has not yet released an autopsy report to determine Hill Sr.’s cause of death.