Necrophilia charge man 'didn't know woman was dead'

A man indicted on charges of having sex with a woman in Atlanta after she died told police that he did not realise she was dead, authorities said.

Parker Clayton Ward, 54, could face one to 10 years in prison after being charged with necrophilia on Monday.

Forsyth County sheriff’s deputies said the woman’s boyfriend – who was working in another state last December 27 – became concerned when he could not contact her that day.

The boyfriend then called his friend Ward and asked him to check on her, authorities said.

Ward notified authorities at the time that the woman had died.

But investigators became suspicious by the position they found the body in and because the victim’s clothes had been disturbed by someone.

Deputies also found empty bottles of pills next to the victim.