After police in Brockton, Massachusetts, found the slain body of a man in his girlfriend’s closet, family members of the victim found his missing limbs when they went to collect his belongings, authorities said.  

Kathryn Podgurski, 33, was charged with murder on Monday in the death of 44-year-old Joseph Shaw, who was stabbed 30 times.

Shaw's family had reported him missing on July 17. Then on Friday, a relative of Podgurski called police and claimed men tried to rob Podgurski and Shaw near their home and he was killed as a result, according to a Plymouth district attorney

When a responding officer went to Shaw and Podgurki’s home, "he could smell what he recognized immediately as the strong odor of a decomposing body," CBS Boston reported.

The officer then found Shaw’s body hidden under blankets in the closet. Podgurski was arrested and taken into police custody.  

Days later, Shaw’s family went to the victim’s studio apartment to collect his belongings when they noticed a backpack with blood on the zipper by a bureau, Jacinda Shaw, 35, told the Boston Herald.

“It was heavy, and when I opened it, his foot popped up,” Shaw’s cousin told the Herald. “We dumped it out on the bed, and there was another bag that we assume was his arm. ... We couldn’t figure out why the police didn’t find it. It was in plain sight.”

Podgurski was originally charged with accessory after the fact to murder, but prosecutors said she'd lied about being robbed to cover up the crime, reports CBS Boston. A prosecutor said the number of stab wounds indicated a personal attack, not a robbery gone wrong.

"I think it's particularly heinous. I mean there were obviously over 40 stab wounds with loss of limbs," District Attorney Tim Cruz said in court. "That's heinous and, obviously, it's a very serious matter."