Warrant reveals conditions inside Burlington home where 3 skeletal remains were found
Newly released court documents are providing more details about what investigators found inside a Burlington home where the skeletal remains of three people were discovered in June.
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Each of the three skeletal remains was found supine, meaning they were lying on their backs, inside sleeping bags in different rooms of the heavily cluttered Stanwich Lane home, according to a search warrant.
The remains were discovered on June 14 after the home was purchased at a foreclosure auction. The three people have now been identified as Paul Cash, Sally Cash, and their son, Brian Cash.
Four people went to the property that afternoon to walk around and determine what renovations would be needed. Two of them noticed an open window in the back of the home and went inside through it to get a better look at the interior, according to the warrant.
When they got inside, they found what they believed were skeletal remains in an upstairs bedroom and in a room above the garage and called police, the warrant stated.
When officers arrived, they found the landscaping “extremely overgrown” and noted that the backyard pool was green. They entered through an unlocked basement door and described the basement as cluttered with various items, leaving only a small path to the stairs, according to the warrant.
The first floor was also cluttered, including a pile of large black garbage bags filled with unknown items in the middle of the living room, the warrant stated.
When officers reached the second floor, they reported smelling an “overwhelming foul odor” that they believed was consistent with a decomposing human body, according to the warrant.
Inside an open bedroom, police found a skeleton lying on its back inside a sleeping bag. Investigators also found rolled-up towels on the floor at the base of the bedroom door, the warrant stated.
Police said they did not see any evidence of a struggle in the room, according to the warrant.
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An officer then walked farther into the bedroom and found the second skeleton next to the first, according to the warrant. Various-sized water bottles filled with water were also found in the bathtub of an attached bathroom.
Police found two cars in the home’s garage. One of the cars was a blue Honda Fit with a New Jersey registration in Paul Cash’s name, which expired in 2019, according to the warrant.
They then went upstairs into a room above the garage and again smelled what they believed was a decomposing human body, the warrant stated.
There, police found the third skeleton, also lying on its back inside a sleeping bag. Police said they did not see evidence of a struggle there either, according to the warrant.
Several packages in the home had a man’s name and the Stanwich Lane address on them, but a law enforcement database search did not find anyone by that name associated with the address. Police also found a prescription pill bottle with the name Sally Cash and a fill date in 2019, the warrant stated.
The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner later identified the three people whose remains were found as Paul Cash, Sally Ann Cash, and their son, Brian Cash.
“The remains were markedly decomposed, which limited the investigation,” the medical examiner said. “Carbon monoxide poisoning has been excluded. Other possibilities include malnutrition and hypothermia from cold exposure.”
State police have previously said there appeared to be no criminal aspect to the deaths, and there was no indication of anything suspicious.
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