Woman, age 62, found dead in her cottage by sole relative. The woman had 23 cats who lived in and around the house. All seemed cared for, but all were far too close to their natures: the body was on the floor by the kitchen table as if she had collapsed, but most of the flesh of her face, neck, and upper shoulders, as well as one of her hands, had been eaten away by the animals she cared for, and the rest of her body was in an advanced state of decay. Roughly by the corpses hand was a tin of open cat food. We are struggling to determine an actual cause of death because of the postmortem damage. There is evidence of a deep cut in her other hand, but it had bandages draped over the decaying flesh that seemed to have been on her for at least a week before her death. Our autopsy showed her stomach contents to contain porridge, fruits, and chunks of meat, but we have decided that choking is unlikely. We have found no evidence of brain damage or aneurysms that may have caused sudden death, and the house doesn’t appear to be broken into, so murder is unlikely too. We also interviewed the relative who found the deceased, but the only information they could give is that the old woman never left the house, and had them deliver several months worth of supplies to her every so often. These consisted of mainly tinned foods and oats, as well as tinned cat food. Occasionally they also bought clothes, and crossword books as well. The last delivery was four months ago, and the estimated time of death was around two months ago.
Was the woman murdered?
If so, how?
If not, how else could she have died?
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