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Anatomy of a Smell
By
Jen Chung
Published Dec 28, 2005
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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By
Jen Chung
Published Dec 28, 2005
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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Earlier this week, it turned out that the strange smell from an Upper East Side apartment was actually the corpse of a neighbor who had died and been packed into a trunk by his wife. The ME's office expects to have results of James Fallon's death by the end of the week, though the police suspect he died of natural causes. The NY Times looks at the incident and how the fact that Fallon's disappearance didn't register with residents, but the odor from his apartment did, seems to play into the "not knowing the neighbor" social contract most New Yorkers have with each other. And the widowed Ms. Fallon, who put her husband in the trunk, because "he always wanted to go to Arizona" is suspected of being mentally ill and "often wore heavy make-up and 1940's-style hats that resemble turbans." But the grossest NY Times fact about the smell at 118 East 60th? While the Fallons lived on the 11th floor, "a woman on the 27th floor who said she thought someone had spilled garbage in the incinerator room across the hall."
Here's information about getting a death certificate from the city; it's unclear what proof you need to provide, but maybe this is just after it's a matter of record (like maybe the first death certificate is something you get from the hospital and/or funeral home).
Diagram of nose from Kids Health
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Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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