A mother and her blind son were found dead in their apartment with ten chocolate cakes and ten cartons of milk.
An inquest heard that the mystery over the deaths of June Corfield, 84, and her son Stephen, 60, may never be solved.
It was in January when the elderly mother and her son were found half-dressed surrounded by radios and clocks at their ‘spartan’ apartment.
The two were found by a housing authority boss after he entered the flat in Berkshire. Police believed at that time that they could’ve been investigating a murder-suicide.
However, foul play was later ruled out.
Describing the discovery, Detective Sergeant Liam Butler said to the inquest that there was a note which read: “Put memo at the top of the stairs do not come in.”
He also said that every electrical item in the two-bedroom apartment was either disconnected or switched off. One bedroom had three TV’s and fridge while the other room had a double bed without cupboards.
There was a boiler that was not functioning, and it was believed that there was no heating in the flat. Officers also found ten chocolate cakes and ten cartons of long life milk.
“All the electrical items were unplugged and the main electrical fuse box was turned to the off position. The light fittings did not have light bulbs in,” Det. Sgt. Butler said.
“There was not anything in the address that we would all recognise as items we would all use in our day-to-day living, such as working TV, internet connection, phones. It seemed very sparse.
“As you entered the lounge where you had the two sofas, officers found a female sat in one of the chairs, slouched backwards. To her right they saw a male, again slouched back in the chair with his head tilted forward but to his left hand side. Both plainly had been dead for some time.”
On Thursday, an inquest heard at Reading Coroner’s Court that the mystery over the deaths may never be known.
According to reports, the mother may have died first and her blind son was unable to fend for himself.
Stephen was also found to have money in his trousers.
Dr. Robert Chapman carried out post mortem and have the cause of death for the elderly mother as coronary heart disease and pneumonia.
On the death of the son, Alan Blake, the assistant coroner for Berkshire, said: “There is insufficient evidence to determine on the balance of probabilities whether this was an entirely natural death or whether there was an element of the unnatural about this death.
“It cannot be established whether neglect or self-neglect caused or contributed to the death and accordingly I am required to reach an open conclusion in relation to Stephen Corfield.”
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