Police: Bear Ate Corpse of Convicted Murderer in Canada

Canadian authorities say a bear ate the corpse of a convicted killer in a wooded area last week, CNN reported.

The partially eaten body of 53-year-old Rory Nelson Wagner was found in a rural part British Columbia on Wednesday near a 1986 Volkswagon Jetta. Authorities believe Wagner was already dead before a black bear broke into the vehicle, ate part of him and dragged his body away. Drug paraphernalia was also found in the car.

"The driver's window of the vehicle was down and investigators noted numerous muddy animal prints and scratches on the car," police said according to CNN.

Wagner's body was found in some brush about 400 feet away.

According to the Guardian, Wagner had been on parole when he went missing from a halfway house May 23. He had been serving a life sentence since 1994 in the murder of a man he believed had sexually assaulted a relative.

CTV reported that Canadian authorities have captured the bear and plan to euthanize it out of concern for public safety, even though the animal did not actually kill Wagner.

Conservation officer Darcy MacPhee said the decision was not made lightly, but because the body had not been giving off a strong decomposition scent and the bear felt comfortable approaching the vehicle and dragging the corpse out, it could pose a future threat.