Women sentenced for taking man’s corpse to bank

ASHTABULA, Ohio (WJW) — Two women who took the corpse of an elderly man to the bank to withdraw money from his account have been sentenced for their crime.

As the FOX 8 I-Team first reported, Karen Casbohm and Loreen Feralo were indicted back in April on charges of gross abuse of a corpse and theft of a person in a protected class.

They originally entered not guilty pleas to the charges, but last week changed their pleas to guilty.

According to court records, Casbohm pleaded guilty to a felony count of gross abuse of a corpse and a misdemeanor count of theft. She was sentenced to 17 months in the Ashtabula County Jail. She will receive credit for the nearly four months she’s already served.

Feralo, court records show, also pleaded guilty to a felony count of gross abuse of a corpse and a misdemeanor count of theft. She was sentenced to 15 months in jail. She will also receive credit for the nearly four months she’s already served.

In a recorded phone call from the jail, Casbohm could be heard saying she knew the victim, Douglas Layman, 80, was deceased when she took him to the bank. She also admitted to calling for help to move his body.

“Because he died coming out of the house, Loree could not carry the body, so I got her ex to put his body in the car,” Casbohm said.

When asked why she didn’t call police, she said she “figured I would go to the bank and then go to the hospital and drop him off.”

A third person, Justin Kelly, is charged with gross abuse of a corpse.

Investigators say he helped put Layman’s body in the car so the two women could drive him to the bank and withdraw money from his account.

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