Elderly man freezes to death after power curbed

BAY CITY, MICHIGAN - A 93-year-old man froze to death inside his home just days after the municipal power company restricted his use of electricity because of unpaid bills, officials said.

Neighbours discovered Marvin Schur's body on January 17. The windows were frosted over, icicles hung from a faucet, and the 93-year-old World War II veteran lay dead on the bedroom floor in a winter jacket over four layers of clothing.

Schur's death was slow and painful, said Dr. Kanu Virani, who performed the autopsy.

Schur owed Bay City Electric Light & Power more than $1,000 in unpaid electric bills, Bay City manager Robert Belleman said.

A city utility worker had installed a "limiter" device to restrict the use of electricity at Schur's home on January 13, Belleman said. The device limits power reaching a home and blows out like a fuse if consumption rises past a set level. Power is not restored until the device is reset.

The limiter was tripped sometime between the time of installation and the discovery of Schur's body, Belleman said. He didn't know if anyone had made personal contact with Schur to explain how the device works.