투신한 96세 노파의 시신이 “만우절 장난용 시체 마네킹”으로 오인받아 쓰레기 수거함에 버려진 기막힌 사건이 발생, 사회적 쟁점으로 부상했다.
4일 외신에 따르면 미국 플로리다 주에 거주하는 아파트 경비원인 로널드 벤자민(61)은 휴식시간에 담배를 피우러 잠시 밖으로 나왔다가 피 묻은 96세 여성의 시신을 발견했으나, 단지 누군가가 벌인 만우절 장난으로 여기고 곧 사무실로 복귀했다.
잠시 후 시신의 또 다른 목격자인 벤자민의 동료가 시신에 대해 묻자 벤자민은 “만우절 장난”이라고 대답하고, 신문배달부 2명과 함께 길에 흩어져 있던 시신을 모아 쓰레기 수거함에 던져 넣었다.
그러나 이 “마네킹”을 본 수리공 직원이 시신이 진짜임을 알아차리면서 상황이 급변, 경찰이 수사에 들어갔다.
수사팀이 고인의 아파트에서 유서를 발견하면서 수사는 종지부를 찍었으나, 목격자들의 충격은 좀처럼 가시지 않은 것으로 알려졌다.
현지 경찰은 “(벤자민)이 처음엔 이 사건이 정말로 만우절 장난이라고 믿었다”면서 “심지어 16살짜리 (신문배달부) 소년은 쓰레기 수거함까지 시신을 옮기는 과정에서도 자신이 시체 마네킹을 버리고 있는 줄로만 알았다”고 현지 언론에 밝혔다.
한편, 벤자민은 시신 유기에 대해 법적 제재를 받지는 않았으나 아파트 경비직에서 해임됐다고 외신은 밝혔다.
By Chung Joo-won and news report (joowonc@heraldcorp.com)
Body of woman who committed suicide placed in dumpster, mistaken for April Fools' Day prank
The corpse of an elderly Florida woman was placed in a dumpster Wednesday after an apartment building desk clerk mistook it for a mannequin that was part of an April Fools’ Day prank.
The 61-year-old clerk, Ronald Benjamin, first saw the 96-year-old woman’s body while he was taking a smoke break and returned to work thinking it was a joke. When another employee made a comment about the body, Benjamin told her it was a prank and then got two people who were delivering newspapers to help him put the body in a dumpster.
"His first reaction to this was that it was an April Fools’ prank," Mike Puetz of the St. Petersburg Police Department told ABC Action News. "A 16-year-old boy actually helped him carry the body to the dumpster where again they thought they were disposing of a mannequin."
A maintenance worker eventually came across the body and realized it was real.
"It appears at this point that the desk clerk earnestly believed that victim's body was that of a mannequin and that blood found at the scene was faked as part of an elaborate practical April Fools’ joke. Consequently no criminal charges will be filed," the SPPD said in a statement.
When police searched the woman’s apartment, they found a suicide note.
"Most people that are looking at this are going to assume that these people are all fools, but honestly it does appear that this was just an honest mistake," Puetz said.
According to police, Benjamin was fired as a result of the incident. (UPI)