Fountain City man charged with concealing a corpse and animal cruelty

BUFFALO COUNTY, Wis. (WEAU) – A Fountain City man is accused of concealing a corpse and several animal cruelty charges.

A criminal complaint shows 69-year-old Arthur McMullin is accused of concealing a corpse, cruelty to animals, obstructing an officer and failing to provide proper food and water to confined animals.

According to the criminal complaint, authorities would serve an eviction notice on Oct. 23, 2024, on two tenants of a home at 26 Court Lane in Fountain City.

There, authorities contacted Arthur McMullin, who said the other tenant was not home.

After several more attempts to contact the other tenant in the home, McMullin then said the other tenant had been dead for about six weeks.

Authorities then found the woman dead on the bathroom floor.

According to the complaint, McMullin said she may have died of a heart attack and that he did not want to address the situation yet. McMullin also told authorities that the victim said she was not feeling well the day she died and may have fallen off the toilet.

According to the criminal complaint, McMullin believed there were 12 dogs and 30 cats in the house. Arthur had told investigators that he knew the house was not properly maintained and that he was at risk of losing all his animals. Arthur had told the researchers that he had run out of food to care for the animals, but he gave them pieces of the alms. Buffalo County Humane Society. The Trempealeau County Humane Association and Tails of Hope were called to the scene to help remove the animals.

After further investigation, authorities believed there were even more animals in the house than McMullin claimed.

According to the criminal complaint, investigators found two carcasses, or skeletal remains, believed to be two cats in the home.

Conditions in the home were terrible and neglected, the complaint said.

McMullin signed over ownership of all the animals he had.

Authorities told McMullin an autopsy would be performed on the victim.