Local authorities in Northeast Ohio accused two women of driving a dead man to his bank and using him to steal money from his account before dropping his body at a hospital Monday, according to a police statement.
Karen Casbohm and Loreen Feralo allegedly found 80-year-old Douglas Layman dead in the residence shared by all three early Monday, Ashtabula Police Department (APD) Chief Robert Stell said in a statement provided to the Daily Caller. Both women—with a third person’s help—placed his body in a car and drove to his bank “where they withdrew an undisclosed sum of money from his account,” Stell added. The two women allegedly placed Layman’s body in the car such that the bank staff would see Layman and the women would make the withdrawal.
Casbohm and Feralo then allegedly dumped his body at the Ashtabula County Medical Center (ACMC) with no information about themselves and Layman for the hospital, Stell said. A few hours later, one of the two women reportedly phoned the hospital with information regarding Layman. The hospital contacted the APD, which sent officers to the deceased man’s residence to obtain information from the two suspects.
“The two women have both been charged with Gross Abuse of a Corpse and were arraigned at the Ashtabula Municipal Court,” Stell told the Daily Caller. “Other charges are under review and may be forthcoming.”
Stell also urged anyone with “information on this incident or any criminal matter” to reach out to the APD.
“They’re charged with gross abuse of a corpse for taking a person who was dead and acting in a manner that would shock the conscience,” Ashtabula County Prosecuting Attorney Cecilia Cooper told FOX 8 News. (RELATED: Woman Slept With Husband’s Mummified Corpse For Four Years And Performed Rituals With It, Police Say: REPORT)
Ashtabula police: 2 women charged after allegedly taking dead man to bank to withdraw money https://t.co/zUNKEzwHoj
— WKYC 3News (@wkyc) March 7, 2024
“This is truly sad, that this poor man, all he had — from what the evidence has shown so far — is these two [women],” Cooper further told FOX 8 News, according to the outlet.
Both Stell and Cooper reportedly described the alleged acts as unusual. “I have never heard of anything — other than fiction — that is like this,” Cooper reportedly told FOX 8 News.
In all of Stell’s 28 years in law enforcement, it was his first time encountering such a case, he reportedly said to the outlet.
The cause of Layman’s death was not yet released, Ashtabula County Coroner’s Office reportedly told FOX 8 News.
The two women could spend as much as a year for each of the charges if convicted, the outlet reported.