This is a sad situation for the two children involved, but I had to post this "news of the weird" here because it has so many elements of interest to me.

First, this takes place in Necedah, not far from our Wisconsin cabin. Necedah is home to both the National Wildlife Refuge (home of the whooping cranes) AND the dubious "shrine", Queen of The Holy Rosary Mediatrix of Peace. I visited the shrine last year with my daughter out of curiosity; it is an, um, interesting place, for certain. You have to read the history of it to really get the full sense of what its all about. It is more or less cultish, and has been debunked by the Catholic church. Read their history via the link above - there are spaceships involved!

That said, the people in this news story who are noted as members of "Order of the Divine Will" are NOT formally associated with the Holy Rosary Shrine organization, although they have many beliefs in common.

So many elements of the story make no sense. How odd that there is not one but are two schismatic groups in this tiny town. And how stupid is it that these people, if their intent was to perpetrate fraud, wouldn't have simply buried the woman somewhere in the thousands of square miles of undisturbed forest and marshes that surround their community? I mean, if you are going to be a criminal, why stink up your house and ruin your only bathroom with a rotting corpse?! And THEN subject kids to all this nonsense? Oh, yeah, right, they are crazy cult members. That's the only plausible  explanation.

The elements that made this story tragi-comic were the fact that the complaint refered to the decaying body slumped on the toilet as a "pile" with a "horrific stench", that the "threat" against the kids was they would have to go to public school, and the odd phrasing by the writer that the home "smelled of incense and hymns playing on the stereo" - making it read as if the HYMNS smelled up the house!

Enjoy...

Remains Of Wis. Woman, 90, Found On Toilet

NECEDAH, Wis. (AP) ―

Someone continued to write checks on an account belonging to a 90-year-old woman whose remains were found on the toilet in a Necedah home two months after she died, according to court documents released Monday.

Prosecutors say Tammy Lewis kept Magdeline Alvina Middlesworth's remains in the bathroom of the home Lewis shared with her two children after the elderly woman died. Lewis has said her "superior," Alan Bushey, told her God would bring the woman back to life.

Detectives say they believe Middlesworth died March 4. Social Security and annuity checks totaling $2,790 were deposited directly into an account she shared with Lewis after that date, according to an affidavit for search warrants for the homes of Lewis and Bushey.

Twenty-five checks were written on the account after Middlesworth died. The affidavit does not say who wrote the checks or for how much.

Investigators seized checkbooks, bank records and other financial records from the two homes over the weekend, according to court documents.

Lewis told the deputy who found the body she has Middlesworth's power of attorney, and the older woman used all her money to support their six-member religious group, dubbed the Order of the Divine Will.

Lewis' son told detectives Bushey warned him that he and his sister would have to go to public school and get jobs if Middlesworth's body was found because she paid all the bills, according to a criminal complaint.

Juneau County District Attorney Scott Southworth declined Monday to say who wrote the checks. But he called the religious group a cult and said Bushey "absolutely" was the mastermind, luring people in with Roman Catholic doctrine and manipulating them for financial gain.

"That's not legitimate religious expression. That's cult activity. I'm certain people in Wisconsin can see the difference," Southworth said.

Middlesworth's friends and family told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel she was from Washington state, but they were unsure who persuaded her to come to Wisconsin. Southworth said he didn't know where Middlesworth was from or how she came to live with Lewis.

Investigators weren't aware of Bushey's group until Middlesworth's body was found last week, Southworth said. Detectives aren't certain how many people are members but have learned some apparently got wise to Bushey about a year ago and left.

Lewis, 35, and Bushey, 57, each face two counts of causing a child mental harm. Lewis also faces a misdemeanor obstruction charge.

Neither has been charged with financial fraud, but Southworth said additional counts could come this week or next. He said he has been in touch with federal prosecutors, who would handle Social Security violations.

Sheriff Brent Oleson said Monday a state Justice Department agent would help with the case's financial aspects.

Online court records didn't list an attorney for Bushey. Lewis' attorney, Dan Berkos, asked Judge John P. Roemer during a hearing Monday for a competency evaluation for Lewis. Roemer agreed as Lewis, a thin woman with brown hair and glasses, dabbed at her eyes with a tissue.

Berkos said afterwards he hadn't learned much about the case yet. The allegations play well in the media, he said, but "it's pretty easy to take shots" right now.

He took exception to Southworth branding the group a cult, saying almost any organized religion could be considered one.

"Clearly, there's some religious basis in what they did," Berkos said. "There's a lot of religions that don't believe in medical treatment."

Authorities discovered Middlesworth's body Wednesday after her sister asked the sheriff's department to check on her.

Deputy Leigh Neville-Neil went to Lewis' home in the town of Necedah, about 80 miles northwest of Madison. Lewis initially said Middlesworth was on vacation, but when pressed, she said she needed to call her "superior" first, the criminal complaint said. Lewis went inside, returned and let the deputy in. The house smelled of incense and hymns played on the stereo.

The deputy discovered Middlesworth's remains on the toilet. The complaint described the body as a "pile" with a "horrific stench."

Lewis told investigators Bushey, who also goes by Bishop John Peter, told her to leave Middlesworth's body in the bathroom and pray for God to bring her back to life.

Lewis' son told detectives Bushey told him demons were destroying Middlesworth's appearance to make it look like she wouldn't rise from the dead, the complaint said.

The sheriff has said those in the Lewis home had been using "makeshift" toilet facilities because of the situation in the one bathroom.