Woman washed and dragged naked corpse around for three weeks thinking she was tending to the remains of Osama bin Laden

A woman lived with the decaying body of her pensioner friend for up to three weeks following his death because she thought she was tending to the remains of Osama bin Laden. Mentally ill Jane Cappleman washed and dragged around the naked corpse of 75-year-old Anthony Sherman after he died from unknown causes. Worried neighbors eventually called the police after spotting her burning his clothes in the garden of the south London flat, Southwark Coroner's Court heard.

After officers battered down the door, Ms Cappleman told them she thought she had been tending to the remains of Osama bin Laden. In a police interview, Ms Cappleman, thought to be aged in her 60s, said she had known Mr Sherman, described by neighbors as a 'well-spoken quiet man', for around 10 years after meeting him in church. The pair had never been romantically involved, she said, adding that she lived with him and he gave her £20 a week as 'pocket money'.

Summarizing her account, Detective Constable Andy Faiers said Ms Cappleman claimed to have been at the flat for three weeks but was 'adamant the deceased was not Mr Sherman.' She variously claimed she thought he was former Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, or that he 'must have been Australian or American because they're nudists'. DC Faiers added: "She knew he was dead but didn't know what to do.

"There appeared to be drag marks on the floor, indicating the body had been moved, and she said she moved him so she could wash him every day. She cleaned his face, chest and upper back with a flannel." By the time it was discovered, Mr Sherman's body was too badly decomposed to shed light on how he died. An analysis of insects that had hatched on his body concluded he had been dead for around three weeks. Recording an open verdict, Assistant Deputy Coroner Belinda Cheney said it was impossible to know how Mr Sherman died.