He is asleep, say women who tried to take dead man on flight

LONDON - Two women placed sunglasses on their 91-year-old dead relative, put him on a wheelchair and insisted he was asleep as they attempted to catch a flight to Germany from a British airport, a media report said Wednesday.

Gitta Jarant and her stepdaughter Anke Anusic managed to convince a taxi driver that Curt Willi Jarant, 91, was fine and he could go to the airport from their home in Oldham, Greater Manchester, The Telegraph reported.

At Liverpool’s John Lennon Airport, the staff, however, felt that something was amiss.

“They had him wrapped in a blanket and propped up in a wheelchair wearing sunglasses. The two women insisted he was just asleep. They had apparently managed to fool the taxi driver who brought them to the airport, but staff here were immediately suspicious,” an airport source was quoted as saying.

After it was established that man was dead, both women were arrested. They were later released on bail. The women are believed to have decided to board the flight rather than risk paying up to 5,000 pounds in repatriation fees.

Andrew Millea, an airport worker, said: “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’.

“I could see the driver of the taxi was shocked too, he was white as a sheet and looked very shaken, so I placed the body into the wheelchair and pushed the man to the back of the easyJet queue.”

Millea informed security personnel who attempted to check the man’s pulse, but were dissuaded by the two women.

Officials then established that the man was dead.

Jarant said: “(He was) the best man of the world - a good man. I (did not) kill my Willi. My Willi is my god. I (have loved) my Willi for 22 years.”

Anusic added: “They think that for 24 hours we would carry a dead person? This is ridiculous. He was moving, he was breathing. Eight people saw him.”

An easyJet spokesperson said staff were immediately concerned about the man’s health and as a result decided to call in a first aid team.

Leah Gandy, an easyJet employee, said: “I’ve worked at the airport for three years, but this is the most shocking thing I’ve ever seen. I can’t believe the lack of respect the two ladies showed for their family member. It sent shivers down my spine when I realised what was going on.

“Fortunately, they had done a good job of disguising the truth and the other passengers did not appear to notice that the man was dead.”