CNN
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An Arizona man told detectives he put his deceased father’s body in a freezer and moved it around the state for four years – all to keep a roof over his head , according to police.

Joseph Hill was arrested last week on several charges, including hiding a body in his backyard and failing to report the death of a person who was not under the care of a health care provider, according to the police. CNN has reached out to the Maricopa County Public Defender’s Office for comment.

A $25,000 bond was set for his release, according to a final release order in the case. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for November 4.

According to court documents obtained by CNN, Tempe police received an online tip on Oct. 22 alleging that the 51-year-old Arizona native was keeping his deceased father, Joseph Hill Sr., in a freezer located in the courtyard of his residence. The tip described the freezer as being covered with a tarp and blankets.

Police visited Hill’s home the same day, but were unable to inspect the freezer, according to probable cause listed in the documents. The defendant claimed his father died in Oregon four years ago.

Detectives assigned to the case attempted to verify Hill Sr.’s death record, but were unable to do so, according to the release. Instead, they found documents showing that Hill’s father still owned the house and was collecting Social Security benefits until March 2023.

Detectives arrived at Hill’s residence a few days later after obtaining a search warrant, according to the release. After explaining the terms of the warrant, Hill’s “attitude began to change,” police said, and he revealed that there would be “something in the freezer.”

After being read his Miranda rights, Hill told police that his father had died at the residence four years ago, according to the release. The next day, he said he purchased a freezer with the intention of eventually burying his father in land he purchased in Strawberry, Arizona, the documents note.

Hill told police he did not want to report Hill Sr.’s death because he was not listed on the deed to the Tempe home and he was afraid of losing his residence, according to the press release.

Over the past four years, Hill said he lost power intermittently at his Strawberry home and his Tempe residence due to fires, forcing him to move the freezer, the release said. On several occasions, Hill also attempted to bury the freezer in the desert, but he claimed there were “always people there,” according to the documents.

The freezer had been sitting in his backyard, without power, for approximately four to six months, the release said. Detectives removed layers of tarps, blankets, plastic wrap and duct tape to find human skeletal remains in the freezer, along with a “large amount of biological material,” according to the documents.

The Maricopa County Medical Examiner’s Office has not yet released an autopsy report that would determine Hill Sr.’s cause of death.