Man found with mummified remains called dangerous to society
Prosecutors called a New Jersey man “dangerous to society” after pieces of a human body were found in his closet, including a head, part of an arm, and a torso dressed in a necktie and suit jacket.
Robert Williams, of Newark, pleaded not guilty Monday to desecrating human remains and separate charges of child sexual abuse.
Police initially went to Williams home to investigate allegations he abused a 12- to 13-year-old boy over several months, but when they searched the apartment they found an altar and mummified human remains that had apparently been used in religious ceremonies, according to prosecutors.
The county’s medical examiner has yet to identify the remains, but Assistant Essex County Prosecutor Michael Morris said Monday that they aren’t related to the sex abuse charges.
The remains, found in a plastic bin, “raise the specter of a person out of step with society and dangerous to society,” Morris told the judge in arguing for detention.
At the conclusion of the brief proceeding, state Superior Court Judge Ronald Wigler ordered Williams held pending trial. ...