Some might have thought he was heartless after he killed his ailing sister, then lived with her corpse for six months.
But a Crown Point, Ind., man, who had been jailed and charged with the murder, died on March 25 ... of heart disease, according to the Lake County Coroner Office.
John Zajic, 57, had told investigators that he stayed in the house with Mary Ann Zajic's body because he didn't want to lose his sister and needed somebody by him, court records state.
He had been jailed since Feb. 20 awaiting trial when he developed a balance problem. He was taken to Methodist Hospital in Merrillville, where he died.
Zajic admitted smothering his sister with a pillow during an argument when she complained about his not finding a job, police said.
He had told neighbors that his sister had gone to Arizona to visit relatives, according to the Sun-Times Sting wire service.
Police executed a well-being check on the Zajic house after neighbors called police to say that they could hear a dog whining inside the house, but had not seen the siblings for several weeks, the Associated Press reported.
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They found Mary Ann Zajic's body on the floor of a filthy bedroom, her legs covered by a trash bag, according to court records.
Zajic had been charged with murder and failure to report a dead body.
