The coroner called to examine a young woman’s body after she was found “melted” into her family’s couch has “never seen a homicide like this” — and is still disturbed by what he saw.
Lacey Fletcher, 36, was found covered in urine and faeces and “fused” to the maggot-ridden lounge at her parents’ home in the US state of Louisanna in January 2022.
Sheila and Clay Fletcher pleaded no contest to manslaughter over her horrifying death this week, The New York Post reports.
But for Dr Ewell Bickham, the horrific death has left a permanent mark on his life, describing the scene as the worst thing he had ever experienced “in all of my career”.
“I’ve seen every kind of death there is. I’ve never seen a homicide like this. I have never seen a human being literally tortured and allowed to die while she is alive,” Dr Bickham told NewsNation.
“I’ve never seen that (in) my life. … Lacey did not decompose. She rotted in her own body, in that hole, in that sewer, in the couch.”
Prosecutors said Lacey had lain there, wasting away and in great suffering, for about 12 years and blamed her parents for the neglect.
She weighed 100 pounds (about 45 kgs) at the time of her death.
The 36-year-old had reportedly been diagnosed with autism, and her parents claim she refused to eat when they tried to feed her, leading to her being unable to leave the couch and her eventual death.
Strangely, prior photos show a young and bright-looking Lacey at school, where she was on the volleyball team before she was apparently homeschooled after 9th grade.
A neighbour, Robert Blades, 61, said she was “just a normal fun kid” before vanishing from view 15 years ago, after her parents said she had also developed “anxiety” and took her to psychologists, the Daily Mail reported.
Dr Bickham said he still trying to process the awful scene he witnessed — and was horrified by the smell in the house before he even got to Lacey’s body.
“When I walked in, the house smelled of a stench of, it smelled like a sewer, or septic tank and also a smell of death,” he said.
“I’ve never smelled that in my life. I’ve dealt with decomposed bodies. I’ve dealt with all sorts of death, degradation, whatever, never experienced this in all of my career.”
Dr Bickham said her parents were in the house when he arrived. Her father was “emotionless” while her mother sat with her “head between her knees” and shed “a tear or two”.
What he found in the room shocked him — and continues to traumatise him, he said.
“It still bothers me today. Like I said, I’ve seen every kind of death there is. I’ve seen elderly people die of natural causes. I’ve seen suicides, homicides, I’ve seen everything there is.”
Dr Bickham said there was no evidence that Lacey was being fed except for a small bag of hard candy nearby. He said her stomach contained both yellow foam from the couch and faeces.
“So you take it from there,” he said.
Lacey Fletcher, 36, was found covered in urine and faeces and “fused” to the maggot-ridden lounge at her parents’ home in the US state of Louisanna in January 2022.
Sheila and Clay Fletcher pleaded no contest to manslaughter over her horrifying death this week, The New York Post reports.
But for Dr Ewell Bickham, the horrific death has left a permanent mark on his life, describing the scene as the worst thing he had ever experienced “in all of my career”.
“I’ve seen every kind of death there is. I’ve never seen a homicide like this. I have never seen a human being literally tortured and allowed to die while she is alive,” Dr Bickham told NewsNation.
“I’ve never seen that (in) my life. … Lacey did not decompose. She rotted in her own body, in that hole, in that sewer, in the couch.”
Prosecutors said Lacey had lain there, wasting away and in great suffering, for about 12 years and blamed her parents for the neglect.
She weighed 100 pounds (about 45 kgs) at the time of her death.
The 36-year-old had reportedly been diagnosed with autism, and her parents claim she refused to eat when they tried to feed her, leading to her being unable to leave the couch and her eventual death.
Strangely, prior photos show a young and bright-looking Lacey at school, where she was on the volleyball team before she was apparently homeschooled after 9th grade.
A neighbour, Robert Blades, 61, said she was “just a normal fun kid” before vanishing from view 15 years ago, after her parents said she had also developed “anxiety” and took her to psychologists, the Daily Mail reported.
Dr Bickham said he still trying to process the awful scene he witnessed — and was horrified by the smell in the house before he even got to Lacey’s body.
“When I walked in, the house smelled of a stench of, it smelled like a sewer, or septic tank and also a smell of death,” he said.
“I’ve never smelled that in my life. I’ve dealt with decomposed bodies. I’ve dealt with all sorts of death, degradation, whatever, never experienced this in all of my career.”
Dr Bickham said her parents were in the house when he arrived. Her father was “emotionless” while her mother sat with her “head between her knees” and shed “a tear or two”.
What he found in the room shocked him — and continues to traumatise him, he said.
“It still bothers me today. Like I said, I’ve seen every kind of death there is. I’ve seen elderly people die of natural causes. I’ve seen suicides, homicides, I’ve seen everything there is.”
Dr Bickham said there was no evidence that Lacey was being fed except for a small bag of hard candy nearby. He said her stomach contained both yellow foam from the couch and faeces.
“So you take it from there,” he said.
