Investigators in North Carolina say that a man died while attempting to bury the body of a woman he murdered.
The discovery was made at a home in Trenton on Saturday.
The Edgefield County Sheriff’s Office says that they were called to the home after a witness noticed an unresponsive man lying in a yard.
When authorities arrived, they found 60-year-old Joseph Anthony McKinnon dead.
While investigating the incident and attempting to notify his next-of-kin, investigators noticed a “freshly dug pit.”
Authorities then found the body of 65-year-old Patricia Ruth Dent inside a trash bag in the pit.
An autopsy was performed on both bodies.
Authorities say Dent was strangled to death while McKinnon died of a heart attack.
Investigators concluded that McKinnon was attempting to bury Dent’s body when he had a heart attack and died himself.