Twins held after mother lies dead for 3 months

TWIN brothers have been charged with murdering their 89-year-old mother after leaving her corpse to rot for three months on the floor of the Texas home they shared.

Houston-based Edwin Larry Berndt and twin Edward Christian, both 48, were arrested on Monday when police went to check on Sybil Berndt after neighbours said she had not been seen since January.

Edwin Berndt answered the door and initially said "everyone was fine and there was no need for the police at their home," according to court documents. The officer insisted she had to see Mrs Berndt and he let her in.

Sybil Berndt's body was lying face down on the floor in an advance state of decomposition. The officer said the house was in a "deplorable condition and smelled terribly". The twins claimed their mother had fallen and died but they didn't have the money to bury her.

They also said they didn't call police because they didn't want to go to jail.

However police searched the house and found bank statements detailling accounts containing $700,000.

The twins later told police they has been watching American football on television on 10 January when their mother "came in ranting and raving and then fell down and did not get up".

They claimed she lay there for a day, conscious and able to speak, but did not ask for help. Again they claimed they could not afford to call a doctor. She died three days later - having gone without food or water since her fall - on the 13 January, the date of her 89th birthday.