Joyce Woods, 72, died from a coronary artery disease-induced attack after a naked intruder jumped in her bed. (The Morning Sentinal)
A 72-year-old woman in Burnham, Maine died from a heart attack after a naked intruder broke into her home in April, according to police and medical records.
The cause of death for Joyce Wood was a coronary artery disease-induced attack, according to the records obtained Monday by the Morning Sentinel.
Maine State Police charged Tara Shibles, 37, with manslaughter in connection to the death of Joyce Wood. (Waldo County Sheriff's Office)
On April 2, Wood called police around 3 a.m. and said a woman had broken into her house and jumped in her bed, the autopsy report showed.
Family arrived at Wood’s house before police and helped her into a car in the driveway, an official said at the time. It was there that she suffered the heart attack that killed her.
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The medical examiner, who conducted the autopsy shortly after the incident, ruled Wood’s death a homicide. The results were withheld at the time pending further investigation, according to the medical examiner’s office.
Two Maine State Police troopers consult with each other outside a residence Sunday on Winnecook Road in Burnham while investigating the death of Joyce Wood. A pair of boots lie in the road in foreground. (Morning Sentinel, David Leaming)
Police searched the property and found “a naked woman hiding in the house” and boots down the street that “probably belonged to the naked woman,” according to the medical examiner’s report.
The suspect, later identified as Tara Shibles, 37, was questioned for several hours before eventually being released, according to an official.
Shibles has since been charged and indicted by a Waldo County Grand Jury with manslaughter, aggravated criminal trespassing and assault.
Coronary artery disease restricts blood flow to the heart and any strain on a person’s body can be fatal, according to Mark Belserene, an administrator at the medical examiner’s office.
The incident at Wood’s house induced enough stress to cause her death, the medical examiner said.
Shibles' trial is set for December.
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