Two women are accused of driving a deceased man to the bank and propping him up to trick staff into giving them his money.
Karen Casbohm, 63, and Loreen Bea Feralo, 55, are believed to have found 80-year-old Douglas Layman dead at their home in Ashtabula by the shore of Lake Erie in northern Ohio.
Instead of reporting it, they allegedly drove to the bank with him in the front passenger seat positioned ‘in such a manner that he would be visible to bank staff in order to make the withdrawal’.
Lt Mike Palinkas told WEWS-TV that one of the women had been in a live-in relationship with Mr Layman for several years while the other had been staying there for a few months.
The pair said it was normal for them to take money from the account, but Palinkas said he didn’t have a full explanation for why they went there that day.
‘Allegedly, they wanted to pay some bills but outside of that, there wasn’t a specific motivation provided,’ he added.
Casbohm, 63, and Loreen Bea Feralo, 55, were charged Tuesday with gross abuse of a corpse and theft from a person in a protected class.
Police said they were called Monday evening and told that two women had dropped off a body at the Ashtabula County Medical Center emergency room.
Officers responded to Layman’s residence and made contact with Casbohm and Feralo, who told them they had found Mr Layman dead earlier.
They are accused of hiring a third person to help place Mr Layman in the front seat of his car before driving to a bank where they withdrew ‘an undisclosed amount of money’ from his account.
Casbohm was arraigned and ordered held on $5,000 bond while Feralo is scheduled for arraignment next week.
Police said they continue to investigate and other charges are possible. The coroner’s office said an autopsy to determine the cause of Mr Layman’s death could take up to eight months.
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