Jail For Women In "Weekday At Bernie's" Plot

JULY 10--Two Ohio ghouls have pleaded guilty to propping up the corpse of an 80-year-old man in a vehicle so they could withdraw money from the decedent’s account at a U.S. Bank drive-thru window.

In a court appearance last week, Karen Casbohm, 63, and Loreen Bea Feralo, 56, each copped to a pair of criminal charges: gross abuse of a corpse, a felony, and misdemeanor theft.

Casbohm (left) and Feralo are pictured above.

Both women have been in custody since their March arrest for mishandling the lifeless body of Douglas Layman, with whom they shared a home Layman owned in Ashtabula, a city about 50 miles from Cleveland. Casbohm was Layman’s girlfriend for the past few years.

A judge sentenced Casbohm to 12 months in jail on the felony rap and five months in custody on the lesser count (with both sentences to run concurrently). Casbohm’s rap sheet includes prior convictions for theft; soliciting; criminal trespass; receiving stolen property; possession of drug paraphernalia; and attempted drug abuse.

In the wake of Layman’s death--which remains under investigation by the county coroner--relatives accused Casbohm of using drugs and stealing from the octogenarian (seen above).

After a judge ruled that Feralo was competent to stand trial and “knew the wrongfulness of her behavior at the time of the offenses charged,” she pleaded out to the same offenses as Casbohm and was sentenced to ten months in jail for abusing Layman’s corpse and five months for theft (penalties that will also run concurrently). Feralo’s criminal record includes convictions for reckless assault; possession of drug paraphernalia; criminal trespass; driving under the influence; theft; and attempted possession of drugs.

According to investigators, the women--with the help of Justin Dwan Kelly--removed Layman’s corpse from their Ashtabula residence on Moday, March 4 and placed the body in the front passenger seat of the car Layman owned. Kelly, 38, has been indicted for gross abuse of a corpse.

The pair then headed to a nearby drive-thru window of a U.S. Bank branch, where tellers had previously allowed the women to withdraw money from Layman’s account as long as he was accompanying them. Unaware that Layman was actually dead in the front seat, a bank employee let the duo withdraw $900.

Police charged that the women placed Layman "in the vehicle in such a manner that he would be visible to bank staff in order to make the withdrawal."

After swiping the money, Casbohm and Feralo drove to the Ashtabula County Medical Center, where they dropped off Layman’s body and departed "without providing any information about the man or themselves,” police said. (3 pages)