In a strange and disturbing turn of events, 2 women from Ashtabula, Ohio, find themselves facing serious charges of gross abuse of a corpse and theft from a person in a protected class.
Karen Casbohm, 63, and Loreen Bea Feralo, 55, have been implicated in a macabre incident involving the deceased Douglas Layman.
The details of the case are as bewildering as they are troubling. Layman, an 80-year-old resident of Ashtabula, was found dead in his home, where he had been living with both Casbohm and Feralo. The relationship dynamics among the trio add further layers of complexity to an already bizarre situation—one woman had been in a long-term live-in relationship with Layman, while the other had only recently taken up residence.
What followed Layman’s death is a sequence of events that seem to belong more to a crime novel than real life. Allegedly, the accused women, with the assistance of an unnamed third party, transported Layman’s body to a local bank. The purpose? To withdraw money from his account. Shockingly, the bank had apparently allowed such transactions in the past, provided Layman was present, even in death.
The manner in which Layman’s body was positioned in the vehicle, strategically placed to be visible to bank staff during the withdrawal, is a chilling detail that adds a sinister dimension to the crime. It suggests a calculated effort to exploit a vulnerable individual even in death.
The women didn’t stop there. After successfully withdrawing funds, they dropped Layman’s body off at the emergency room of Ashtabula County Medical Center, leaving without identifying themselves or the deceased. It was only through their subsequent contact with the hospital that Layman’s identity was established.
Upon investigation, law enforcement officers swiftly located Casbohm and Feralo at Layman’s residence. The charges laid against them—gross abuse of a corpse and theft from a person in a protected class—highlight the seriousness of their alleged actions.
Perhaps most disturbingly, the motive behind this bizarre sequence of events remains unclear. While the women claim they drove to the bank to withdraw money for bill payments, no concrete explanation has been provided for their actions beyond that.
As authorities await the results of the autopsy to determine the cause of Layman’s death, the community in Ashtabula is left reeling from the shock of this strange and tragic incident. The case serves as a stark reminder of the vulnerabilities inherent in our society and the lengths to which some individuals will go to exploit them.