A man who is allegedly responsible for strangling his girlfriend to death in South Carolina died while burying her in their yard after suffering a heart attack, reports say.
Joseph McKinnon, 60, is accused of killing Patricia Dent, 65, in their home on Saturday, according to the Edgefield County Sheriff's Office, Fox Carolina reported.
Sheriff Jody Rowland said in a news release that deputies were dispatched to the couple's residence after getting reports of "an unresponsive male lying in his yard."
Deputies found McKinnon, and medical crews attempted to revive him, but they were unsuccessful.
While investigating McKinnon's death, deputies found a freshly dug pit in the yard of his house with a body, later identified as his girlfriend Dent, inside of it, Rowland said.
Authorities reported that McKinnon had a "cardiac event" while he was filling the hole. It is believed that McKinnon had attacked Dent, who was determined to have died from strangulation, according to an autopsy, and then attempted to bury her body.
Rowland said McKinnon "bound her and wrapped her in trash bags before putting her in the previously dug pit."
The investigation into what happened is ongoing.
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