2 women drove a man’s body to a bank to withdraw his money, Ohio police say

ASHTABULA, Ohio — Two Ohio women have been accused of taking the body of a deceased 80-year-old man to a bank to withdraw money from his account before delivering his body to a hospital.

Karen Casbohm, 63, and Loreen Bea Feralo, 55, were charged Tuesday in Ashtabula with aggravated abuse of a corpse and theft from a person in a protected class, according to Ashtabula Municipal Court records.

Police said they were called Monday evening and told that two women had delivered a body to the Ashtabula County Medical Center emergency room without identifying the person or themselves. A few hours later, one of them contacted the hospital with information about the deceased, who was subsequently identified as 80-year-old Douglas Layman of Ashtabula.

Officers went to the layperson’s home and contacted Casbohm and Feralo, who told them they had previously found the layperson deceased in the home where all three lived. Police allege that, with the help of a third unnamed person, they put Layman in the front seat of his car and drove to a bank where they withdrew “an undisclosed amount” from his account.

The layman’s body “was placed in the vehicle in a manner that would be visible to bank staff to conduct the recording,” Ashtabula Police Chief Robert Stell said in a news release Thursday. Stell told the (Ashtabula) Star Beacon that the bank had “previously allowed this as long as they were accompanied by him.”

Lt. Mike Palinkas told WEWS-TV that one of the women had been in a live-in relationship with Layman for several years, while the other had been there for a few months. The women said it was normal for them to withdraw money from the account, but Palinkas said he had no full explanation as to why they went there that day.

“They reportedly wanted to pay some bills, but beyond that no specific motivation was given,” Palinkas said.

Casbohm was arraigned and ordered held on $5,000 bond, while Feralo will be arraigned next week. It is unclear whether they have lawyers; The numbers listed in their names were disconnected. A message was sent to the county public defender’s office seeking comment on whether the office was defending either or both.

Police said they are continuing to investigate and other charges are possible. The coroner’s office said an autopsy to determine the layman’s cause of death could take up to eight months.