I Didn't Want to Be Alone': Mich. Woman Keeps Dead Boyfriend Clean & Dressed in Home for Over a Year

Linda Chase of Jackson, Mich., said that her boyfriend Charles Williams Zigler was the "only guy who was ever nice to me."

According to the Jackson Citizen Patriot, Chase, 72, and Zigler lived together for 10 years. In December 2010 though, Zigler died in his sleep at age 67. Instead of letting go of her good friend though, Chase ended up keeping him in the chair in which he died.

"I didn't want to be alone," Chase told the Jackson Citizen Patriot, acknowledging what she did was morbid, something she's not proud of and could potentially go to prison for.

Here's more from the Jackson Citizen Patriot on Chase's perspective:

"He just fell asleep." She kept him in his chair after he died, keeping him dressed and cleaned. His body did not stink, she said. She would talk to him and watch NASCAR races on television with him.

Sitting on her porch Tuesday, Chase teared up remembering times she and Zigler went fishing. The two were close friends who lived together for more than 10 years. There were not boyfriend and girlfriend, as the police and neighbors thought, she said.

Zigler could make her laugh, even on her worst days.

"If you had to know Charlie, he had the best sense of humor in this whole world," Chase said.

It was Zigler's family, after not hearing from him, who decided to get in touch with the police to find him. Local police went to the Zigler and Chase homestead where they found the now mummified man in his chair. To the police, Chase admitted to maintaining the body, as well as taking his social security checks.

In a separate article by the Jackson Citizen Patriot, Zigler's son, Walter, said "it wasn't right to leave him like that." According to Walter, his father's health had been going downhill for sometime before he died.

Zigler was found by police on July 6 and prosecutors are now considering whether to press charges. Walter said he hoped Chase was charged with something. Chase told the Citizen Patriot Zigler had a contentious relationship with his family.

"I know this is horrible, but after awhile, you get," Chase told the Citizen Patriot beginning to tear up. "I don't know what you call it, I don't know."

Read more details about this case and Zigler in the Jackson Citizen Patriot here.

(H/T: Yahoo! News)