LEMON GROVE – For more than a month, Ersa Ruby couldn't figure out the source of a rancid stench wafting into her back yard.
The 61-year-old waitress got her answer Thursday.
Next door, sheriff's detectives said, a man kept the decomposing body of an 81-year-old woman – believed to be his mother – inside his Rosemary Lane home.
The body, wrapped in several layers of plastic, sheets and other materials, was discovered atop a bed. Authorities believe the woman died at least two months ago.
Wiley Eddie Wright, 60, was arrested early yesterday on suspicion of murder and booked into the county jail, where he is being held without bail, said sheriff's homicide Lt. Jerry Lewis.
"This is kind of an unusual case, to say the least," Lewis said. "This is kind of a case made for TV."
Neighbors agreed.
"It's not something that happens in real life," Ruby said, shaking her head. "I just want to sell my house and move. I've been here for 30 years, and I can't deal with it."
Wright was arrested after he gave detectives conflicting statements, Lewis said. Detectives also found evidence the woman "was restrained against her will at times," Lewis said.
The cause of the woman's death has not been determined. An autopsy was scheduled for today, Lewis said.
"We haven't been able to identify her because of the way she was wrapped," he said. "It was wrapped pretty tight."
Neighbors said they haven't seen Wright's mother in over a year.
The body was found after a sheriff's deputy went to the home off Massachusetts Avenue about 5:30 p.m. Thursday to serve Wright a legal notice about an impending eviction proceeding. The home on Rosemary Lane is split in two. Wright's niece, Cheryl Polido, and her husband, Robin, live in one section of the house; Wright and his mother lived in the other.
It was not clear yesterday why the eviction proceeding was initiated, but when the deputy arrived, "he smelled a distinct odor that led him to believe that there was something wrong in the residence," Lewis said.
The deputy called for backup. When other deputies arrived, they went inside.
In a brief interview, the Polidos said their relationship with Wright has been sour for several years. They said Wright kept his mother "prisoner."
"He wouldn't let us see her," Robin Polido said.
Daniel Chacon: (619) 593-4960; daniel.chacon@uniontrib.com
