An Ohio woman accused of stealing money from a dead man has reportedly told her family why she committed the crime.
Fox 8’s I-Team has obtained audio that purportedly shows Karen Casbohm talking to a relative on a recorded line from the Ashtabula jail about her involvement in the death of 80-year-old Douglas Layman, as well as the events that followed.
The article, which was published Tuesday and updated Wednesday, includes excerpts from a phone call in which Casbohm discusses the victim’s March 4 death.
Casbohm and a woman named Loreen Feralo, who both lived with Layman at his Ashtabula home, allegedly took his dead body to the bank to withdraw about $900 from his account after they found him dead.
Karen Casbohm and Loreen Feralo.
Ashtabula Police Department
During a jailhouse interview, when an unidentified family member asked Casbohm when Layman died, she replied, “He died when I said he died.”
Casbohm, who is wheelchair-bound, also reportedly told a family member that Layman’s body was too heavy for Feralo to hold, so the two women decided to ask a friend to help them.
Woman tricked husband into believing she had Alzheimer’s and stole $600,000 over ‘many years’: Police
According to Fox 8, while on the phone with Casbohm, the relative asked her why she didn’t go to the police.
“I just thought I’d go to the bank and then the hospital and drop him off,” Casbohm replied. “I just forgot to leave him a name.”
“He died before you went to the bank, dude,” the family member said in the video.
“I know,” Casbohm replied.
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Empty Drive-thru Bank — Image Image.
Getty
She and Feralo were in Ashtabula Municipal Court on Tuesday, where they waived their right to a preliminary hearing. Then an Ashtabula County grand jury will decide whether to indict them.
In a press release shared with PEOPLE, the Ashtabula Police Department said “both women have been charged with aggravated abuse of a corpse.”
The statement added that other charges are under review and may be soon. There was no mention of any charges against an unidentified third party who helped Casbohm and Feral.
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According to the Ashtabula Police Department, shortly after 5:00 pm on March 4th, they responded to a call from the Ashtabula County Medical Center regarding a deceased elderly man who had been dropped off at their facility by two unidentified females.
The women left before giving the staff any information.
Hours later, one of the women called the facility with details that led authorities to make a positive identification of Layman.
Officers arrived at the residence where Casbohm, Feralo and the victim lived and questioned the women that same evening.
When he was taken to the bank, police “stated that Mr. Layman was positioned in the vehicle in such a way that he was visible to bank personnel in order to make the withdrawal.”
On Thursday, Ashtabula Police Chief Robert Stell told PEOPLE that Casbohm and Feralo are currently in jail.
Layman’s cause of death has not yet been determined, according to Fox 8.
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