BAY CITY, Michigan — A 93-year-old man froze to death inside his home, an autopsy has determined, just days after the city limited his flow of electricity for not paying his bills.

Marvin E. Schur died "a slow, painful death," said Kanu Virani, Oakland County's deputy chief medical examiner, who performed Schur's autopsy.

Neighbors discovered Schur's body on Jan. 17. The indoor temperature was below 32 degrees at the time, the neighbors told The Bay City Times for a story Monday.

Schur had no children, and his wife passed away several years ago.

The man had almost $1,100 in unpaid electric bills, said neighbor George Pauwels Jr., who discovered Schur's body.

The utility installed a "limiter" device outside Schur's home on Jan. 13, said Bay City Manager Robert Belleman. The device limits electricity flow to the home and blows out like a fuse if more than allowed is drained. Belleman said he doesn't know if anyone talked to Schur to explain how to reset the device to restore power.

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this is awful. just awful.

Dude, wtf? He had $1,100 in back electric bills? They should have made him get a job and worked him to death instead!

Seriously. That's sad. But I personally believe that the government considers the elderly to be a burden, and therefore tries to weed them out without anyone making too much of a stink about it. Like what they did to this poor guy, and not to mention the elderly folks who cant afford the medicine they cant live without.

Things like this make me lose faith in mankind.

Yea.. I read about that this morning. Very sad and way fucked up. I feel bad for teh old dude.

An older couple here in Grand Rapids, Michigan got stuck in their drive way from all the snow we had gotten one night. The man got out to try and get the car out and he fell. His wife got out of the car to help him and fell as well, both of them were on the ground and couldn't get up. They lived in the country and no one heard them screaming. The women froze to death and the man is in critical condition.

I don't blame the electric company, they were just doing what they have to do to stay in business, I'm kind of surprised they didn't just turn the power off. I'm sure they didn't expect that the occupant of the house was just going to sit there and freeze to death. Sounds like the man was no longer capable of caring for himself. It's really sad but no one's really to blame here.

What the hell. I have no idea what it's like in freakin' Michigan but in the state of Minnesota you CANNOT have your heat turned off during the months of November to April if you don't pay your bill. I believe it's for reasons such as this.

Yeah, this happened in my neighborhood. That man lived roughly 4 blocks from my house. My best friend and I would see him all the time when we would go for walks. Its heartbreaking. What they don't tell you there is that he actually had the money for that electric bill. It was paper clipped to the bill, sitting on his kitchen table. He just didn't make it to the mailbox in time. Its horrible. :(

That is Sad... Truely Is Sad

I THINK IT IS SAD THAT HIS NEIGHBOURS, WHO ARE NOW ALL TALKING TO THE PRESS ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED, DIDN'T COME AND CHECK ON HIM BEFORE, YO - LIKE IF HE IS THAT OLD, YOU'D THINK THE NEIGHBOURS WOULD HAVE POPPED IN REGULARLY TO SEE HOW HE WAS DOING AND MAYBE POST HIS BILLS FOR HIM, YO. IT HAD CLEARLY BEEN UNPAID FOR A LONG TIME, SO THERE WOULD HAVE BEEN A BUILD-UP TO THIS. I DUNNO - MOST OLD PEOPLE I KNOW WHO LIVE ALONE GET VISITED BY THEIR NEIGHBOURS. EVEN MY UNSOCIABLE HERMIT SISTER VISITS HER 90-YEAR-OLD NEIGHBOUR EVERY DAY. IT SOUNDS LIKE THIS POOR CHAP WAS JUST ALL BY HIMSELF WITH NO ONE TO HELP HIM USE HIS ELECTRICITY DEVICE THINGY.

This is just so sad

thats horrible. at some point people can not look after them selves anymore and unless they have family or friends to say this and get them help, they don't seek it them selves. social services should have been called before his power was "limited". he could have be taken to a shelter at the very least.