John Jefferson
Karen Casbohm, middle, and Loreen Bea Feralo, left, received jail time after “propping up” the body of Douglas Layman, right, at a bank drive-thru ATM to get hundreds of dollars of his cash. (Defendants’ mug shots from Ashtabula Police Department; Victim’s photo is a screenshot from WKYC/YouTube)
Two women in Ohio will serve jail time for their ill-fated scheme to prop up the corpse of an 80-year-old man in the passenger seat of his car so they could withdraw hundreds of dollars in cash from his bank account in a drive-thru ATM.
Karen Casbohm, 63, and Loreen Bea Feralo, 55, were sentenced after pleading guilty to abuse of corpse and petty theft charges in the bizarre case involving the body of Douglas Layman, 80, according to online court records. Casbohm was sentenced to 17 months, and Feralo will serve 15 months.
As Law&Crime previously reported, the investigation began on March 4.
Police said Casbohm and Feralo, who lived in Layman’s home but were not related to him, found him dead earlier in the day. The women — allegedly assisted by a man who faces charges in the case — placed Layman’s body in his car, drove to the bank and withdrew $900 cash from his account.
Ashtabula Police Chief Robert Stell reportedly said that the women “propped up” Layman in the passenger seat of his car to ensure the bank tellers saw that he was with them — something Stell said the bank had previously allowed.
Layman’s body was positioned in the passenger seat so the bank teller could see him, allowing for the withdrawal to take place, police said.
After the bank run, the women went to the Ashtabula County Medical Center, where they left Layman’s body and drove off without providing information about the man or themselves to hospital staff, who called the police.
A few hours later, one of the women called the hospital and told a staffer some personal information about the dead man, and police arrested Casbohm and Feralo.
From jail, Casbohm admitted to the crime in a recorded call with a relative, local Fox affiliate WJW reported on March 12.
“I just figured I would go to the bank and then to the hospital and drop him off,” Casbohm said in the call, the station reported. “I just forgot to leave his name.”
“He died before you went to the bank, dude,” the relative said.
“I know,” Casbohm responded.
Layman’s cause of death hasn’t been disclosed. Local NBC affiliate WKYC reported in March that an autopsy could take up to eight months to complete.
Layman’s stepson James Hubbard was incredulous over his stepfather’s fate, WKYC reported.
“I couldn’t do that to an animal,” he told the station. “I don’t understand what they were thinking and how that money meant that much to them.”
Hubbard said Casbohm was his stepfather’s girlfriend.
“He’s been run through hell with this woman — three years of drugs, stealing, selling his stuff,” he told WKYC.
Jerry Lambe contributed to this report.
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