Yes, he was dead. That was how they found him - he started doing his impersonation of "There's Something Stuck Up In The Chimney" and that lead someone to what was left of him. They estimate that he had been up there at least three days.
http://www.al.com/news/birmingham/index ... r_home_pop
Court VanScyoc, president of Cool Breeze Inc., made the gruesome discovery at his business just before 5:30 p.m. that evening. He said he stopped by the warehouse to pick up some supplies and noticed a foul odor.
"I thought, 'Well, we've got rats,''' VanScyoc said at the scene. "We walked into the back warehouse area and kept talking about the smell, and then we just happened to look up. "
"We looked up and we saw a man hanging from the window,'' he said. "He was obviously dead. I knew he was dead, and I knew he was a burglar."
