Shivangi Sinha
In 2010, when the police in the small town of Wyalusing, Pennsylvania, found out that an old woman by the name of Jean Stevens had been exhuming the remains of her family members, they were concerned. They went to check up on her and she clearly showed them the remains of her sister and her husband that she had kept and dressed inside her home. While she said that she wanted them to stay close to her, what the police did not know was how this could have gone on for so long without anyone knowing. ID’s ‘The Curious Case of… The Corpse Who Came to Dinner’ details the case and what the legal aftermath was in light of such events.
Jean Stevens Had Kept the Remains of Her Sister and Husband in her House
Jean Matson was born on April 12, 1919, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Her parents, Glenn and Bertha Matson, had been given the gift of two kids, and along with Jean came June Matson, her identical twin. The two sisters were always very close, even though they had very different personalities. While Jean was more outgoing and wild, June had always been the quiet and reserved one. In fact, the two sisters even married brothers, and with James Stevens, Jean started her married life in 1942. The sisters had inherited a property from their family in Wyalusing, Pennsylvania, and both of them lived as neighbors for all their lives.
In 1999, when James passed away after a long battle with Parkinson’s, it was tough for Jean. However, she had her sister alongside her through it all. However, a decade later, in 2009, even June passed away from cancer. She struggled to cope, but little did anyone expect what the truth was. In 2010, the police were informed, allegedly by a relative of Jean, that she had exhumed the bodies of her husband and her sister and had them at her home. When the police knocked on her door, they found it to be true. In fact, Jean did not even try to hide it. She showed them June’s remains, which were on her couch. Per reports, Jean had dressed her and put makeup on her, even talking to her sister as if everything was normal. James’ remains were in the garage, under some carpets, and it seemed like he had been there for a long while.
Jean Stevens Was Not Charged With Any Crime
The district attorney did not pursue any charges against the then-91-year-old Jean Stevens, as they believed she was not a threat to the community. She told them that she had always been claustrophobic, and the idea of not being able to breathe when underground scared her. That is why she had done the same for her husband and her sister. She had been assisted by her neighbors and some of her relatives, many of whom allegedly knew that this was going on. The police alleged that they had all been motivated by financial gains to keep it a secret for so long. Jean had dug up the remains soon after the deaths and had kept them “above the ground.”
Jean herself passed away on February 29, 2012, on the same property. There had been a shed built to seal the remains on her property, but she had signed her property over to her neighbors. Reports indicate that one of the clauses was that her remains, and those of her sister and her husband, would not be underground. A crypt above the ground was built for the same, and that is where the three of them rest to date.
Read More: Kierra Coles: What Happened to Her? Has She Been Found?
