On Sunday, an embalmer at a funeral home handling Myrtle McKenny's remains (not pictured) discovered a stab wound on the left side of her neck.
It's the case of the hidden homicide.
An elderly Brooklyn woman who seemingly died of natural causes last month was actually murdered and the crime would have gone unnoticed if a funeral home embalmer hadnt spotted a suspicious stab wound, the Daily News has learned.
Myrtle McKenny, 82, was found dead in the kitchen of her Brownsville apartment Nov. 9. Her death was considered natural at the time, as McKenny was being treated for hypertension and diabetes, police sources said.
A short time later, family members called McKennys personal physician, Dr. Martin Bandler, insisting she had been murdered, he told The News.
They told the doctor her body was too far under a table for her to have fallen and that an unusual amount of money had been withdrawn from her bank account. She was discovered by a home health aide, sources said.
Neighbor Leon Gavin, 74, said he went to the bank with McKenny who couldnt read or write two days before she died.
He helped her take out $800. She feared someone was stealing from her, he said.
Police told Bandler that McKennys death was not suspicious, the physician said.
He passed the familys concerns to low-level employees in the medical examiners office and tried and failed to contact the funeral home, he said.
He signed McKennys death certificate
last week, citing her health woes as the cause of death.
But on Sunday, an embalmer at a funeral home handling her remains discovered a stab wound on the left side of her neck.
Alarmed, the embalmer called the medical examiners office.
A pathologist confirmed the stab wound and also discovered that McKenny had three broken ribs and bruising on both her neck and face.
On Monday, the ME ruled her death a homicide.
"The cause of death is stab wound of neck and incised wounds of right upper extremity with blunt impact injuries of head, torso and right upper extremity, with contributing condition of hypertensive and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease," said ME spokeswoman Julie Bolcer. "The manner of death is homicide."
Her neighbor was devastated.
Who in their right mind would do this to a sweet old lady? said Gavin.
How did (cops) miss it?