Best Friend Talks About Man Buried In Florida Garden

A woman admitted to police that she buried her husband in their backyard and kept it a secret for months.

Ben and Barbara Scott moved to Lakeland Florida, but were originally from Oklahoma. Ben Scott's best friend, Harve Dunn, tells News 9 that he wasn't too surprised to hear the news.

"That was like his third marriage, so I don't know if you'd say marriage of convenience or what. They both probably wanted to be somebody else," said Dunn.

After a short separation the two reconciled and Scott was diagnosed with congestive heart failure.

"I didn't think she would do half the job as she did taking care of him, but I was thankful for it," said Dunn.

Dunn says he never went more than a week without talking to Scott, but hadn't been able to reach him on the phone for months. Monday morning Dunn called to chat with Scott, but his wife Barbara said he needed throat surgery and that his voice box had shattered. Dunn had no idea his friend of 70 years was dead.

Barbara Scott told authorities her husband slipped in the bathtub and died from a blow to the head. She says she just buried him in her herb garden instead of calling for help.

"I would call right away. I don't know what caused her to not do that, so that makes me somewhat [suspicious]," said Dunn.

There will be a memorial service for Ben Scott in Midwest City.

Records show that Barbara Scott served more than a year behind bars in the 1980's on an embezzlement charge. So far she has not been charged in this case, but investigators say that could change based on what the medical examiner's office finds about the cause of death.

3/28/2012 Related Story: Wife Buries Former Oklahoma Man In Garden Behind Florida Home