Wife Discovers Husband's Been Dead for a Week

Idaho native, Katherine McClain had no idea her husband, Jack McClain, had in fact been deceased for nearly a week. He had remained seated in his favorite chair for days before Katherine had any reason for suspicion.

Katherine works as a nurse and frequently works long shifts in the Emergency Ward, while her late husband, Jack, remained unemployed.

Of course Katherine acknowledges there were some clues, however nothing seemed out of the ordinary to her. “I come home from work every day, sometimes at odd hours. He’s usually sitting there in front of the television set reclined in his armchair and watching NASCAR. I tell him about my day, and he just listens and doesn’t interrupt. He was always a good listener.”

Due to Katherine’s struggle with an acute Sleep Apnea condition, the two have temporarily taken to sleeping in separate rooms. It was not uncommon for Jack to fall asleep with the set blaring and remain in his armchair for the duration of the night. The next day, Katherine would leave early to get into the ward and attempt not to wake him.

“The smell eventually got pretty bad, but sometimes that happens. He sits in that recliner of his and eats, and eats, and eats, and also he doesn’t have the greatest hygiene.” Katherine urged her husband midway through the week to “get off his arse and bathe.” When he didn’t respond, Katherine assumed he was giving her the cold shoulder. She then stormed off and made use of the neglected shower.

The trash remained piled up, the clothes were unchanged, the husband was unresponsive, a stench filled the air, and yet, nothing was out of place.

How did Katherine eventually discover that her husband had passed on then? Twinkies.

Thursday afternoon McClain ran her weekly grocery errand, where she picked up a box of Hostess Twinkies. The following evening, on the hunt for a satisfying midnight snack food, she encountered the box. Unopened. Suspicions arisen, she ran outside to unplug the satellite dish. When Jack failed to respond angrily to the outage, she called 911. Of course, it was too late to save her husband, who medical examiners identified as having departed that previous Sunday.