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When South Carolina police responded to a call about an unconscious man in a backyard, it didn’t take long for authorities to confirm that Joseph Anthony McKinnon was dead. But as police notified close relatives on Saturday, they said something else had been found in the backyard garden: a “freshly dug pit” with the man’s girlfriend’s body wrapped in garbage bags.
Investigators suspected dishonesty in the death of Patricia Ruth Dent, and their suspicions were confirmed Monday after an autopsy found that 60-year-old McKinnon had died of a heart attack and Dent, 65, had died of suffocation. Authorities now believe McKinnon strangled Dent and died while he was burying her at their home in Trenton, South Carolina.
“Evidence gathered at the scene, along with witness statements, helped investigators build a timeline that led us to believe that Mr. McKinnon attacked Ms. Dent while at home,” Edgefield County Sheriff said. Jodie Rowland and Coroner David Burnett in a joint article. statement. “Mr. McKinnon then tied it up and wrapped it in garbage bags before placing it in the pre-dug pit. The pit was then partially filled by Mr. McKinnon.
They added: “While covering the pit, Mr McKinnon contracted heart disease, which led to his death.”
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The motivation and circumstances surrounding the strangulation remain unclear. Rowland told The Washington Post that he was not aware of a history of domestic violence between the couple and that there had been no previous reports of incidents at their address.
“There is no doubt what has happened now,” Rowland said. “We have an idea of what their dispute may have been about, but this case is over.
The couple lived together at a home in rural Trenton, about 64 miles outside of Columbia, South Carolina, according to the sheriff’s office. Pamela Briggs, Dent’s twin sister, told WRDW that Dent was dating McKinnon.
Police responded on Saturday morning to a report of a man lying “on the ground face up and unresponsive,” according to a police report of the incident. A neighbor found McKinnon and began chest compressions and called 911, but he was “apparently dead” by the time authorities arrived, Rowland said.
While police were initially investigating McKinnon’s death, Edgefield County Deputy Sheriff Michael Clark noticed something in the backyard.
“I was watching a hole in the garden,” Clark wrote in a police report.
Neighbors interviewed by the sheriff’s office said McKinnon had dug the pit so he could put a water trough in the garden, Rowland said. After a neighbor told authorities that McKinnon had been digging the hole for about 10 days, a deputy sheriff at the scene found Dent’s wallet, according to a police report. When the sheriff’s deputies went to the nearby golf course where Dent worked, they realized that she was not at work and that she described her at work as “no call, no showing,” authorities said. An associate also sent her a message that morning, but did not respond.
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Uncertainty over her whereabouts has returned authorities to the couple’s home. While investigating what appeared to be a recently cleaned home, investigators were able to find blood on the living room floor, which was later confirmed to be from Dent, according to the sheriff’s office.
“The smell of Clorox in the house was choking,” Rowland told The Post. “It was obvious to us that the smell of Clorox signaled significant efforts to clean up the crime scene.
So when the authorities turned their attention to the pit in the garden, they started digging, hoping to find some clues. A neighbor told police that they found it strange that McKinnon was trying to cover up the hole as quickly as possible on Saturday morning without putting a trough of water in it.
“We knew there was a body under that finger,” the sheriff said.
When they found black garbage bags buried in the hole, police opened the bags and found a body tied with duct tape. It was Dent.
After the sheriff’s office questioned witnesses and neighbors, they concluded that McKinnon was in the process of burying Dent when he died.
“I think he strained, put down his shovel, took two or three steps toward his truck, and fell dead from that massive heart attack,” Rowland said.
Briggs, Dent’s twin, told local media she was “shocked”, adding that she saw no signs of potential danger. She described her sister to the WRDW as a “full of energy” person who is liked by everyone who meets her.
Days after her sister’s death, Briggs said the details about Dent and McKinnon were nothing more than a “nightmare.”
“It’s a reality and a life,” she told television, “and a lot of me is gone and now I’m going to have to live with it.”
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