Veronica King abandoned dying sister, then stole her Social Security checks

Veronica King: Left her sister to die on the floor.

​Veronica King abandoned her 71-year-old sister after she had a stroke in their Madison, Wisconsin, home. King didn't help Mary Coleman up, didn't call for medical help, didn't even bring her food.

Veronica's son Steven didn't help Coleman, either. Instead, he told her to "shut up" as she lay dying.

And when Coleman became deathly ill a few days later, the family went out for pizza.

That might have been the end of Coleman's suffering, but the Kings continued to commit crimes. Once Coleman passed, the Kings "mummified" her, stashed her corpse in their garage, and stole her Social Security checks for three months, according to Dane County prosecutors. When police asked Veronica why she hadn't removed her sister's body, she answered that she "had other things to do that day."

The story began in April 2009, when Dane County social workers received a complaint about Coleman's appearance. A local bank worker had noticed that she was disheveled and asked the county to investigate, according to published reports.

Steven King: Didn't help his dying aunt because it was his birthday.

​Coleman had a doctor's appointment scheduled for May 1 but canceled it. Steven King told police that he and his mother knew Coleman was sick on May 6 -- but didn't take her to to the doctor "because it was his birthday."

It's unclear when she died, exactly, except that it was in May.

On August 15, 2009, another relative called police to express concern about Coleman's disappearance. Police went to the Kings' home, where they smelled a decaying body, and followed the scent to find Coleman's corpse wrapped in garbage bags in the garage.

Coleman's doctor later told police that she had had a stroke and that was likely what kept her from getting off the floor.

Steven King reportedly suffers from a number of untreated mental illnesses, including schizophrenia, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and Asperger's.

Veronica and Steven King face charges of reckless homicide, hiding a corpse, and recklessly subjecting an individual at risk to abuse. Prosecutors also allege that the Kings stole Coleman's Social Security checks and her pension while she was dead, which amounts to bank fraud in their complaint.