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Charles Jordan, 38, is charged with murder in the strangulation death of 61-year-old Patricia McCain.

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama - The cause and date of death for a woman found stuffed in a storage box on Birmingham's Southside earlier this week were unveiled today in court records.

An arrest warrant charging Charles Jordan with murder said he intentionally strangled 61-year old Patricia McCain on March 7. Jordan remains in the Jefferson County Jail with bond set at $60,000.

McCain's body was discovered about 11:50 a.m. Sunday in a parking lot next to the alley behind the Chateau Terrace Condominiums at 1540 15th Street South. Authorities said McCain, of Morris, was killed after an altercation with Jordan while they were in bed. Both were involved with heavy drug usage, police said. McCain had not been reported missing.

The killing happened March 7. Birmingham homicide Capt. Scott Praytor said she and Jordan were in bed together. When they awoke, an altercation happened and McCain died. At that point, Praytor said, Jordan made the decision to hide the body. "He did that by placing her in a tub and left the tub in the apartment for a while,'' Praytor said.

Jordan had been staying recently at the Chateau Terrace, renting a unit from his cousin. Investigators said McCain was killed inside that top-floor unit and kept in the storage tub for a month before her body was discovered outside near the dumpster.

As Jordan was preparing to leave town for work with his job at a Pelham construction company, he asked his cousin to dispose of the storage box. "The person was going to do it,'' Praytor said. "The box seemed heavy and he looked inside and that's when the body was discovered."

A neighbor, who didn't want his name used, said he was outside when the body was discovered. The man who took the storage box outside looked in it as he was near the dumpster. That's when he went and got another neighbor for confirmation that what he was seeing was a body. The neighborhood said authorities never removed the body from the plastic tub.

The decomposing body was taken to the Jefferson County Coroner's Office where they identified her through fingerprints. She had an extensive history of bad check charges, which is why her fingerprints were on file. Jordan was taken into custody out of town on Tuesday. He has, authorities said, admitted to his role in McCain's death.

Jordan is set to make his first court appearance on Friday.