Thread: 93 year old man freezes to death in his home

BAY CITY, Mich. - A 93-year-old man froze to death inside his home just days after the municipal power company restricted his use of electricity because of unpaid bills, officials said.

Marvin E. Schur died "a slow, painful death," said Kanu Virani, Oakland County's deputy chief medical examiner, who performed the autopsy.

Neighbors discovered Schur's body on Jan. 17. They said the indoor temperature was below 32 degrees at the time, The Bay City Times reported Monday.

"Hypothermia shuts the whole system down, slowly," Virani said. "It's not easy to die from hypothermia without first realizing your fingers and toes feel like they're burning."

'Limiter' device installed
A city utility worker had installed a "limiter" device to restrict the use of electricity at Schur's home on Jan. 13, said Bay City Manager Robert Belleman. The device limits power reaching a home and blows out like a fuse if consumption rises past a set level. Power is not restored until the device is reset.

There was no word Monday whether the device had blown out or confirmation of the amount Schur owed to Bay City Electric Light & Power; city officials did not respond to a call seeking comment.

Belleman said he didn't know if anyone made personal contact with Schur to explain how the device works.

The body was discovered by neighbor George Pauwels Jr., who said Schur had almost $1,100 in unpaid electric bills. Pauwels told the newspaper he saw cash clipped to those bills on the kitchen table on the day he found Schur's body.

"His furnace was not running, the insides of his windows were full of ice the morning we found him," Pauwels told the Bay City News.

Power shut off, if bills unpaid
Belleman said city workers keep the limiter on houses for 10 days, then shut off power entirely if the homeowner hasn't paid utility bills or arranged to do so.

He said Bay City Electric Light & Power's policies will be reviewed, but he didn't believe the city did anything wrong.

"I've said this before and some of my colleagues have said this: Neighbors need to keep an eye on neighbors," Belleman said. "When they think there's something wrong, they should contact the appropriate agency or city department."

Schur had no children and his wife had died several years ago.

Bay City is on Saginaw Bay, just north of the city of Saginaw in central Michigan.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28858971/

I know that if you live in Ohio or Kentucky, and have small children in the home they can NOT turn off your utilities even if the bills are unpaid -- that goes from November 1 to March 1.

But, in Michigan -- they don't give a rat's ass.

Oh man... how horrible is that !!

What's even sadder is that he obviously had no one checking on him, to see if he was 'ok', eating right etc...

Very, very sad.

that is sad, I wonder if he was making any attempt to pay his bills though, or if he let them know he couldn't afford it. this may sound mean but why should someone get full use of power/etc when they cannot afford to pay for it? (but if they didn't show him how to use the limiter correctly, fault lies on the power company as well.) I was under the impression that if you call and talk to most companies they could set you up on a payment plan if you're low income, of course I may be wrong as I've never had to worry about that.

Originally Posted by DAVESBABYDOLL

NOT TRUE! A few years back, I had my electric shut off in the middle of winter, I think Dawson was two. They wouldn't turn it back on until it was paid plus reconnect fee...sad thing was it had been paid. It was shut off Friday evening and I had to wait until Monday to prove I had pid the bill, I had a copy of the damn canceled check to prove it. Man, I was livid

Maybe it was just in the Cinergy/ CG&E areas then -- but it was in full effect when we lived in both Ohio (Butler county) and Kentucky (Kenton County).

Talked to best friend about 20 minutes ago -- she said it's still in effect ... if you have children under age 10, they can not turn off your utilities at all between 11/1 and 3/1.

Originally Posted by Shann

that is sad, I wonder if he was making any attempt to pay his bills though, or if he let them know he couldn't afford it. this may sound mean but why should someone get full use of power/etc when they cannot afford to pay for it? (but if they didn't show him how to use the limiter correctly, fault lies on the power company as well.) I was under the impression that if you call and talk to most companies they could set you up on a payment plan if you're low income, of course I may be wrong as I've never had to worry about that.

according to the news, the bills and the money were on his kitchen table, with envelopes addressed to his utility providers. He died before they could be mailed.

But why should he receive power? It's called HEART...and Michigan's winter has been a harsh one.

In Michigan (at least for our area -- under DTE), they will not set up a payment plan if you are behind on your bills...you have to pay off your outstanding bill first and then they will put you on a plan.

That said, we are on a plan with DTE -- $368 a month year round. (without it, in the winter, our bill would be about $750 a month, for gas and electric...summertime about $200 a month).

I don't know anything about Bay City Energy, but would imagine it functions much like DTE.

Now with his shut off bills, he could have gone to social & human services to apply for emergency aid... it's hard to say why didn't or if he did/ did not.

How sad............