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Lisa Marie Presley Kept Dead Son Benjamin's Body at Home for 2 Months | TMZ Live
TMZ
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10/8/2024
Lisa Marie Presley was so heartbroken over her son Benjamin Keough's death she kept his body at home for two months, according to her new memoir, which was completed by her daughter, Riley Keough, after her own death in 2023.
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00:00
There is a memoir out with some shocking information.
00:05
It is a memoir from Lisa Marie Presley, who you know has died.
00:10
Yes.
00:10
She had not finished the book.
00:12
Her daughter, Riley Kehoe, finished it for her.
00:15
Yes.
00:15
And in this book, there is talk about a really tragic event
00:20
in their lives where Lisa Marie's son, Benjamin,
00:24
committed suicide when he was very young, an adult.
00:29
And the way the body was handled raises some eyebrows.
00:35
Yes, because in the book, they talk about the fact that
00:39
Benjamin's body was kept at Lisa Marie's home in Calabasas
00:43
for two months.
00:45
Two months.
00:46
And this is how Lisa describes it in the book.
00:49
She says, my house has a separate casita bedroom,
00:52
and I kept Ben in there for two months.
00:54
I got so used to him caring for him and keeping him there.
00:59
I think it would scare the living blanking piss out of
01:02
anybody else to have their son there like that, but not me.
01:07
So Riley then gave her view of this as she finished the book.
01:12
She said, we all got this vibe from my brother that he didn't
01:15
want his body in this house anymore.
01:18
Even my mom said that she could feel him talking to her,
01:21
saying, this is insane, Mom.
01:23
What are you doing?
01:24
What the bleep?
01:26
So what we should say is that they did have the body embalmed
01:31
right after Benjamin died.
01:34
There was an autopsy performed, and then the body was taken
01:39
back to Lisa Marie's house, and she kept it in this casitas
01:44
at 55 degrees.
01:46
That kind of raised my eyebrows because 55 doesn't seem like
01:51
it's cold enough to preserve the body.
01:53
The embalming, I would guess, does that, but for how long?
01:58
Well, we did some digging on this.
02:00
Embalming will preserve a body for a number of days, but at
02:03
55 degrees, it's not really cold enough to prevent
02:06
decomposition.
02:07
And under the law, there's a California law that says you
02:09
have to dispose of the remains within a reasonable amount of
02:12
time, and that's for public health reasons.
02:14
You don't want bacteria and off-gassing and so forth.
02:17
So is it reasonable two months with embalmed body in 55
02:21
degrees?
02:22
Maybe not.
02:22
And that's actually, it would have been a misdemeanor crime.
02:24
Obviously, all of that is out the window because Lisa Marie
02:27
has passed away, but it is an interesting issue.
02:29
Well, actually, the statute of limitations wouldn't have run
02:31
because he died just like four or five years ago.
02:34
Right.
02:35
But yeah, I mean, that's all not an issue anymore.
02:39
But the body would have decomposed definitely within
02:44
weeks, according to the research we've done.
02:46
Yeah.
02:47
And they kept it for two months.
02:50
On a level, I understand this, because it was so tragic, and
02:57
you don't want the finality of burying or cremating when you're
03:03
going through that kind of an emotional turmoil.
03:06
But still, you know, to have the body there, to see it
03:10
decomposing.
03:11
And the family being aware of it the whole time.
03:13
Like, talk about something that over the course of that two
03:18
months, what was being discussed in that?
03:21
There's no way you're in the house having a discussion about
03:24
anything.
03:24
About anything.
03:25
Without that.
03:26
About anything.
03:27
I agree with Harvey.
03:28
It's incredibly heartbreaking, though.
03:29
Remember, he died by suicide.
03:31
So parents do wrestle with guilt issues.
03:33
Even if it's not your fault specifically that your loved one
03:37
dies by suicide, you wrestle with those issues.
03:39
And it sounds like the finality of actually disposing of the
03:42
remains really stuck with her for a number of months.
03:45
It's quite relatable on some level.
03:46
And what they ended up doing was they took the body to
03:51
Graceland, where Benjamin was buried.
03:54
And he is now buried next to Lisa Marie, who was also buried
03:59
in Graceland.
04:00
Hi, my name is Alan Massenburg, and I'm from Philadelphia, PA.
04:04
And at first, when I heard this news, I thought it was kind of
04:07
weird.
04:07
But then I thought about it.
04:09
If I had a loved one that passed away and the only options were
04:11
to cremate them or bury them or have them living in my house,
04:15
then I could see them every day.
04:16
I probably had them living in my guest house, so I could see
04:18
them every day.
04:19
And it's not against the law in California, and she can afford
04:23
the electric bill to keep them cold.
04:24
So I don't see a problem.
04:25
Well, no, no, no.
04:26
But I have a question for you, because this is something I've
04:28
been thinking about all morning after reading about this.
04:32
Is it more upsetting to see the body decomposing in your house
04:37
over what appears to be an indefinite period of time or
04:41
getting the finality of a funeral or cremation?
04:44
I think it's more upsetting to probably bury the body and get
04:47
rid of it forever.
04:48
But if it's in the house, I guess you kind of feel more
04:50
connected to it.
04:51
And it's not decomposing if it's kept at 55 degrees.
04:54
Oh, no, it is.
04:55
It actually is.
04:56
There's no way by two months that it's not.
04:58
It takes a couple of weeks.
05:00
It will decompose even when it's embalmed.
05:02
Harvey, there's one more upsetting element to all of this.
05:04
Remember, Lisa Marie was young when Elvis, her father, died.
05:07
And Benjamin bore a striking resemblance to Elvis.
05:10
So she dealt with both of these deaths.
05:12
And I can imagine just their presence and wanting to see
05:15
that face probably played a role in her keeping the body around.
05:18
Yeah, no, she had such a tumultuous life and struggled
05:23
with drug addiction as well.
05:25
And it was just a rough time.
05:28
Yeah.
05:28
Fame and money does not always do it.
Recommended
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