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A North Carolina man whose body was found wrapped in Christmas lights at the bottom of a staircase -- with a dead cat in a freezer -- earlier this month died of a stroke, investigators have determined.

Fran Oudshorn, 56, got tangled in the lights and fell on top of his pet kitten, the Wake County Sheriff's Office concluded. Its investigation showed Oudshoorn was taking down the lights when he fell onto his cat and broke his back, sheriff’s spokesman Eric Curry told the News & Observer.

Deputies responded to Oudshorn's home in Apex on Aug. 12 to discover blood on the walls, under his body and on the staircase.

His son reportedly called law enforcement to report the death. He told investigators he arrived at the home on Aug. 8 and found his father alive, tangled in the lights, and cut him loose.

He said he wrapped the cat in plastic and put it in a freezer and that his father asked for a pillow and blanket, WNCN-TV reported.

When he came back the next afternoon, he said he found his father dead and called 911. He told emergency dispatchers that it looked like his father "bled out."


"Knowing he was going to have to deal with a deceased father, he put the cat in the freezer knowing that he was going to bury the cat at a later time," Curry said.

Charges were not expected. A final report from the medical examiner's office was pending.

Apex is about 20 minutes southwest of Raleigh.

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