A Janesville real estate agent can't believe she didn't realize that a form on the bed at a house she showed Monday night was a woman who apparently had been dead for two weeks.
"I've smelled death. I know what death smells like," she said. "I can't believe my sinuses were that bad."
Linda Chabucos-Galow, a realtor with Shorewest, was showing the east side house at 1160 N. Claremont Drive to Justin and Colleen McKeen.
Chabucos-Galow stood in the dining room while the couple walked through the house. She heard Colleen scream as the couple stood at the doorway of the front bedroom.
"I thought, 'What's wrong?' Maybe it was a dead mouse or something," Chabucos-Galow said.
But when Chabucos-Galow peered into the bedroom, she saw what looked like a dummy on the bed.
"It looked like a Halloween prop,'' Chabucos-Galow said.
It wasn't.
It was the body of Linda L. O'Leary, 55, the owner of the home.
The small, uncovered body was wearing dark shorts. Chabucos-Galow said the legs were wrapped in material that appeared similar to cheesecloth or support hose.
"If we spent five minutes in there, I'd be stretching it. 'We need to leave. This is not right. We need to get out of here,'" Chabucos-Galow said she told the couple.
She thought it was a hoax, she said.
Rock County Coroner Jenifer Keach this morning confirmed that she pronounced O'Leary dead at 11 p.m. Monday.
The police department's overnight log lists the incident as a sudden death, which Capt. Dan Davis said indicates to him that there was no foul play.
Keach would not comment on whether the death was suspicious or if foul play was involved, but she did say an autopsy had "not been scheduled yet."
A patrol supervisor at the police department said this morning that the coroner called to the scene estimated the homeowner had been dead for two weeks.
Gale Kent, the Coldwell Banker First United Realty agent who listed the house, said the property has been for sale "for awhile," but she declined to say how many times the home had been shown in recent weeks.
"I don't want to say anything because I haven't talked to the police yet," Kent said.
Chabucos-Galow set up the Monday evening showing without knowing the homeowner's identity. After entering the house, she noticed a faint odor but thought it was from the mess in the house or the countertop full of dishes. She saw unopened mail.
"It was just very untidy. I thought that was odd,'' Chabucos-Galow said.
Justin McKeen encouraged Chabucos-Galow to call someone. She called Kent.
McKeen notified police later Monday night.
Responding officers found the body, a police sergeant said.
