🔺 Police called to a quaint Bergen County home made a horrifying discovery

 🔺 A man had been keeping his dead sister's body

 🔺 The brother allegedly fought with police when the body was discovered


A ghastly find inside a Westwood home have police looking for answers, and an elderly man in custody.

Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella says police were called to the home on Monday for a wellness check. They were met at the door by 76-year-old Mark Winters.

Winters, Musella says, allowed them to enter the home.

Officers then found the body of Winters' 70-year-old sister, Joan Winters. Winter's was apparently living with her brother in the home at 25 Kennedy Terrace when she died.

Google Maps/Townsquare Media illustration
Google Maps/Townsquare Media illustration
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Investigators say it appears she had been decomposing in the home for a "prolonged period of time."

When the responding officers confronted Winters about the situation, they say he became confrontational and subsequently assaulted them.

Winters was taken into custody, and is now facing charges of second-degree desecration of human remains and two counts of fourth-degree aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer.

Google Maps/Townsquare Media illustration
Google Maps/Townsquare Media illustration
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It is not clear when Joan Winters died, but Musella says an initial autopsy did not indicate she died under suspicious circumstances. Toxicology tests are still pending.

Mark Winters is being held in the Bergen County Jail pending his first court appearance.

Eric Scott is the senior political director and anchor for New Jersey 101.5. You can reach him at eric.scott@townsquaremedia.com

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