Tucked up in his wheelchair wearing a large pair of sunglasses, the elderly traveller might have looked like he was simply catching a nap as he waited for his flight.But something didn't seem quite right.
As his family tried to check in, airport staff became suspicious - and to their horror, they discovered that the 91-year-old was dead.
Now Willi Jarant's wife and step-daughter have been arrested over the bizarre episode that has echoes of the Hollywood comedy A Weekend At Bernie's.
Gitta Jarant (left) and Anke Anusic were arrested on suspicion of failing to report a death
They are accused of trying to smuggle his body on to a flight from Liverpool to Berlin so they could hold a funeral in Germany without paying £3,000 repatriation costs.
Wife Gitta Jarant, 66, and Anke Anusic, 41, deny they knew that Mr Jarant was dead and say he must have died at the airport.
The pair travelled with Mr Jarant by taxi to Liverpool's John Lennon Airport, along with Mrs Jarant's three grandchildren.
They told staff Mr Jarant was unsteady on his feet, very sleepy and would need a lot of help getting in and out of his wheelchair. But staff became concerned for his health.
Last night Mrs Jarant and Miss Anusic, who are German but live in Oldham, Greater Manchester, hit out at their treatment.
Miss Anusic, a part-time child minder and student, said: 'He was alive in the taxi and when we arrived at the airport. He had eaten breakfast that morning. At least eight people saw him alive that day.
'Willi had Alzheimer's and had not been in good health and wanted to go back to Germany to die.
'We had booked a wheelchair and a taxi and he must have died as he was wheeled into the airport.
She said her mother went into shock and began crying when she realised her husband was dead.
Mrs Jarant said her husband was 'the best man in the world - a good man' and that she had loved him for 22 years.
She said: 'I'm very upset. I'm going to contact the German embassy to complain. Willi was a fantastic man and I loved him very much. This is all crazy. I would never do such a thing.
'He would have been stiff if he had been dead for more than 24 hours.'
Airport worker Andrew Millea said the family had pre-booked assistance for Mr Jarant, a former airline pilot himself, and he was waiting for their taxi with a wheelchair.
'The older lady told me that he was elderly and frail and also very tired so I would have to lift him out of the taxi and into the wheelchair,' he said.
'I immediately felt unsure about the situation but I did my best to help by carefully lifting the man from his seat. To my horror his face fell sideways against mine. It was ice cold. I knew straight away that the man was dead but they reassured me that he "always sleeps like that.
Mrs Jarant said her husband was 'the best man in the world - a good man' and that she had loved him for 22 years.
She said: 'I'm very upset. I'm going to contact the German embassy to complain. Willi was a fantastic man and I loved him very much. This is all crazy. I would never do such a thing.
'He would have been stiff if he had been dead for more than 24 hours.'
Airport worker Andrew Millea said the family had pre-booked assistance for Mr Jarant, a former airline pilot himself, and he was waiting for their taxi with a wheelchair.
'The older lady told me that he was elderly and frail and also very tired so I would have to lift him out of the taxi and into the wheelchair,' he said.
'I immediately felt unsure about the situation but I did my best to help by carefully lifting the man from his seat. To my horror his face fell sideways against mine. It was ice cold. I knew straight away that the man was dead but they reassured me that he "always sleeps like that.
Mr Millea notified security who attempted to check Mr Jarant for a pulse, but his relatives ushered them away insisting he was asleep.
'The older lady spoke both English and German, but she could not understand what was being said to her,' Mr Millea added.
'The second lady encouraged the young children saying: "Tell the man that's how your grandad always sleeps".
'We had to remove the family from the queue and took the man to a side-room where our first aid staff confirmed he was dead.'
An airport source said: 'They swaddled him in a big coat, a pair of sunglasses and put him in a wheelchair. They then caught a taxi to the airport.'
The drama unfolded at about 11am on Saturday when the party arrived at the airport for their 1.25pm easyJet flight to Berlin Schoenefeld.
Other passengers did not appear to notice that Mr Jarant was dead.
The two women were questioned over an alleged attempt to smuggle a corpse through Liverpool John Lennon Airport (file picture)
He is thought to have died of natural causes, but a pathologist is conducting a post-mortem examination to determine the exact cause and time of his death.
In A Weekend At Bernie's, released in 1989, two young insurance executives discover their boss, who was behind a lucrative fraud, has died. But they believe that as long as they can convince friends he is still alive, they can enjoy a planned weekend at his luxury island beachhouse.
They dress Bernie, complete with sunglasses, and stage scenarios so he appears alive.
Mrs Jarant and Miss Anusic were arrested at the airport on suspicion of failing to report a death.
They were questioned by officers before being bailed until June 1 pending a full investigation into the macabre affair.
'The older lady spoke both English and German, but she could not understand what was being said to her,' Mr Millea added.
'The second lady encouraged the young children saying: "Tell the man that's how your grandad always sleeps".
'We had to remove the family from the queue and took the man to a side-room where our first aid staff confirmed he was dead.'
An airport source said: 'They swaddled him in a big coat, a pair of sunglasses and put him in a wheelchair. They then caught a taxi to the airport.'
The drama unfolded at about 11am on Saturday when the party arrived at the airport for their 1.25pm easyJet flight to Berlin Schoenefeld.
Other passengers did not appear to notice that Mr Jarant was dead.
The two women were questioned over an alleged attempt to smuggle a corpse through Liverpool John Lennon Airport (file picture)
He is thought to have died of natural causes, but a pathologist is conducting a post-mortem examination to determine the exact cause and time of his death.
In A Weekend At Bernie's, released in 1989, two young insurance executives discover their boss, who was behind a lucrative fraud, has died. But they believe that as long as they can convince friends he is still alive, they can enjoy a planned weekend at his luxury island beachhouse.
They dress Bernie, complete with sunglasses, and stage scenarios so he appears alive.
Mrs Jarant and Miss Anusic were arrested at the airport on suspicion of failing to report a death.
They were questioned by officers before being bailed until June 1 pending a full investigation into the macabre affair.
2 comments:
Hapa duniani visa haviishi.
Gharama za kusafirisha maiti ni ghali sana na pengine masikini walikuwa wanataka kupunguza gharama.
Sijui kwa nini mtu akiacha kupumua gharama za kumshughulikia zinapanda. Mimi nadhani ingekuwa bure, si mtu mwenyewe keshakufa jamani? Huwa sielewi mantiki ya jambo hili.
Hasa! hiyo ndio ilikuwa nia yao ilikuwa wanataka kupunguza gharama lkn bahati mbaya ndio hivyo tena, na ubaya wa hawa wenzetu ni tofauti sana na sisi hawana ushirikiano kabisa huku unaambiwa kilio na mwenyewe,ukifiwa ni wewe usitegemee kuna mtu atakusaidia, ndio maana unakuta mtu anajilipia mapema gharama ya mazishi yake, kwa sisi utamaduni wetu ni tofauti na wao watu watasema uchuro unajichulia lakini kwe wenzetu ni kitu cha kawaida sana.
Nyumbani mtu unakwenda kuzika hata mtu ulikuwa humfahamu,lakini wenzetu hata kama mtu mlikuwa mnafahamiana kama hukakaribishwa kushiriki kwenye mazishi huwezi kwenda.
Hawa mama na mwana niliwaonea huruma sana,gharama ni kubwa mno za kusafirisha,nahisi hawakuwa na jinsi ya kufanya ilibidi iwe hivyo,maskini sijui kesi yao itaishiaje.
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