A hospital employee in suburban Downers Grove pleaded guilty this week to felony theft after allegedly stealing the wedding and engagement rings from a dead woman’s corpse.
Authorities say Frederick Tapley pawned the rings for cash, some of which he used to pay his cable television bill, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. But he soon “realized he made a huge mistake,” his attorney George Kallas said, and led police to recover the rings.
The body came into Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital, where Tapley worked, on July 2 of last year. At the funeral home, a family member of the deceased woman noticed that her rings were missing and alerted the police, according to the Chicago Tribune.
Tapley faces a maximum prison sentence of five years for the crime, but Chicagoist suggests that his assistance to the police might ease his sentencing later this year.
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