A Man Killed A Woman & Died Of A Heart Attack While Burying Her Body, According To Police

A South Carolina man was burying the body of a woman he had just killed when he suddenly suffered a heart attack and died, according to police.

Authorities say they discovered the murder-gone-wrong after receiving a call about "an unresponsive male lying in his yard" on May 7.

Officers showed up at the scene in Trenton, South Carolina to find Joseph Anthony McKinnon, 60, dead in the yard. They then found the body of Patricia Ruth Dent, 65, in a "freshly dug pit."

Evidence suggests that McKinnon had strangled Dent to death in the house and was burying her body in the backyard when he suffered a fatal heart attack, Edgefield County Sheriff Jody Rowland and County Coroner David Burnett said in a statement to WFLA.

"Mr. McKinnon had no signs of trauma and natural causes were suspected," they wrote, adding that Dent "appeared to have died by foul play."

Autopsies revealed that McKinnon died of cardiac arrest while Dent died of strangulation.

"Evidence gathered at the scene, along with statements from witnesses aided investigators to build a timeline, leading us to believe that Mr. McKinnon attacked Ms. Dent while inside their home," Rowland and Burnett said in their statement.

After strangling the victim, police say McKinnon wrapped her "in trash bags before putting her in the previously dug pit."

"The pit was then partially filled in by Mr. McKinnon. While covering the pit, Mr. McKinnon had a cardiac event, causing his death."

The two deaths happened at a house that appeared to belong to McKinnon, the Tri-City Herald reports.

Authorities say Dent and McKinnon lived together. However, the exact relationship between the two is unknown.