Months after his mother and twin brother died, a White Bear Lake man sent out a Christmas card saying the two were still alive but in bad health.
He also wrote that his mom didn’t want visitors at the home the three shared together and that neither of his family members could hear the phone ring.
It appears his letter was meant to keep people from stopping by their house, where Robert Kuefler was living alongside their decaying bodies, according to a criminal complaint filed against him in Ramsey County District Court this week.
The 60-year-old faces one charge of interference with a dead body or scene of death for neglecting to tell authorities about their deaths of natural causes.
Police discovered their bodies in September 2016 after a neighbor reported that the Kueflers’ lawn had grown unruly and that she hadn’t seen activity at the house for some time.
When officers responded to the scene, they saw what appeared to be a dead body through a window and forced entry into the house, charges say.
Police found 94-year-old Evelyn Lucille Kuefler deceased in an upstairs bedroom. Her body was “severely decayed and mostly a skeleton,” the complaint said.
Robert Kuefler’s twin, Richard Kuefler, was found in the basement, his body “mummified,” charges say.
A medical examiner later determined that both died of natural causes about a year earlier.
Robert Kuefler was inside the house when police arrived.
In an interview with investigators, he admitted that his mother had died around August of 2015. He said he knew she was dying and didn’t want to witness it so he drove around for a couple of hours. When he returned, she was dead in her bed, he told police, according to the criminal complaint.
He said his brother had died before his mother. He found him in “his chair,” and eventually moved him into the bathroom because his body was “in the way,” the complaint said.
Robert Kuefler, who has no criminal history, had served as the caretaker for his mother and ailing brother before their deaths. He told police he couldn’t bring himself to bury them so he just left them in the home.
Shortly after the bodies were discovered, he was arrested on suspicion of financial exploitation because he was in a position to profit off disability and Social Security checks sent to their house after they died, police said at the time.
He was released shortly thereafter and never charged with the crime.
The Kuefler’s home was deemed temporarily uninhabitable following the discovery so that city officials could hire a professional company to do a deep clean of the house.
In addition to the bodies, the house was infested with maggots and flies and contained bodily fluids and a powerful stench.
After it was cleaned, Robert Kuefler reportedly moved back in.
He could not be reached for comment.