Police: Santa Cruz Man Lived With Woman's Corpse For Week

SANTA CRUZ (CBS SF) -- An unusual smell led Santa Cruz police this week to a 63-year-old parolee who officers said had been living for a week with the decomposing body of a 30-year-old woman.

Officers responded about 7 p.m. Tuesday to 63-year-old John Clauer's studio apartment in the 1100 block of East Cliff Drive after the smell was reported.

There, they found Clauer and the body of the woman, who had apparently been living with Clauer at the time her death, according to police.

Investigators haven't been able to establish how the woman died "due to the state of decomposition" of her body, police said in a statement.

Investigators also haven't determined how long the woman had been dead, but Santa Cruz deputy police Chief Steve Clark said he was comfortable saying it had been at least a week.

In addition, detectives were trying to determine why Clauer didn't report the death.

"If it is indeed a homicide, then he becomes a suspect," Clark said. "He could also be charged with failure to report a death as appropriate."

It was not immediately clear whether Clauer and the woman were romantically involved or just roommates. Investigators were questioning neighbors and canvassing the area to try to figure out the relationship between the two.

Clauer was being held at Santa Cruz County Jail on no-bail parole hold based on a prior drug conviction, police said.

Clauer has had what Clark described as a "storied history" with Santa Cruz police, having been arrested previously on drug and alcohol related offenses, though it wasn't clear how much time Clauer had served behind bars.

Clauer didn't have an attorney by Wednesday evening.

An autopsy was planned for later this week. The woman's name hasn't been released.

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