Two women are accused of driving the dead body of an 80-year-old man to his bank so he was visible to bank staff as they withdrew money from his account, then dropping him off at an Ashtabula hospital and leaving shortly after, according to an Ashtabula Police news release.
Ashtabula Police confirmed to News 5 Friday that one of the women had been in a relationship with Douglas Lyman for seven or eight years, and the second woman had moved into the home where they all lived a few months ago.
Ashtabula Police received a call from the hospital at about 5 p.m. on Monday, March 4, reporting that a deceased elderly man was dropped off there by two unidentified women who left shortly after their arrival without providing any information, according to a news release from the police department. Hours later, one of the women called the hospital and gave them some information on the dead man.
Officers responded to the man’s home, made contact with the two women and interviewed them, the release states.
It is alleged that the women had found the man dead inside his home earlier in the day, where they had both also been residing. With the help of another person, they allegedly placed the man in the front seat of his car and drove to the bank, where they withdrew “an undisclosed amount of money from his account,” police said.
It is further alleged that the man was placed in his car “in such a manner that he would be visible to bank staff in order to make the withdrawal,” the release states. Police said it was normal for them to go to the bank together for regular cash withdrawals from Layman's account.
The women then went to the hospital and left the man’s body with the facility’s staff without a word until hours later.
“Obviously their priorities are skewed a little bit,” said Lt. Mike Plinkas with Ashtabula Police. “[They] went and did some other things before they felt the need to call and provide the hospital with that information."
The women have both been arrested and charged with gross abuse of a corpse and were arraigned at the Ashtabula Municipal Court. Other charges are under review and may be forthcoming, police said.
Anyone with information on this incident is asked to call Ashtabula Police at 440-992-7126.
