Then Dropped Him Off at a Hospital. Entire Community in Shock
Karen Casbohm, 63, and Loreen Bea Feralo, 55, were charged Tuesday in Ashtabula with gross abuse of a corpse and theft from a person in a protected class, according to Ashtabula Municipal Court records. Police said they were called Monday evening and told that two women had dropped off a body at the Ashtabula County Medical Center emergency room without identifying the person or themselves. A few hours later, one of them contacted the hospital with information on the deceased, who was then identified as 80-year-old Douglas Layman of Ashtabula.
Officers responded to Layman’s residence and made contact with Casbohm and Feralo, who told them they had found Layman deceased earlier at the home where all three resided. Police allege that, with the help of a third unnamed person, they placed Layman in the front seat of his car and drove to a bank where they withdrew “an undisclosed amount of money” from his account.
Layman’s body “was placed in the vehicle in such a manner that he would be visible to bank staff in order to make the withdrawal,” Ashtabula Police Chief Robert Stell said in a news release Thursday. Stell told the (Ashtabula) Star Beacon that the bank ”had allowed this previously as long as they were accompanied by him.”
When officers arrived at Layman’s home, Lieutenant Mike Palinkas said they met the two women who dropped Layman off at the medical center.
“Allegedly, one of the females was in a relationship with him for about 7 to 8 years and then moved in shortly after they entered into a relationship. The other female moved in a couple months ago and was just staying there,” said Palinkas.
Palinkas said when the two women found Layman dead, they called a friend to help them get Layman’s body in the passenger seat of his car before heading to the bank.
The women told officers it was normal for them to go to the bank to take out money from his account, so when News 5 asked Palinkas why the women went to the bank before dropping his dead body off at the hospital, Palinkas said they didn’t receive a full explanation besides this: “Allegedly, they wanted to pay some bills but outside of that, there wasn’t a specific motivation provided.”
According to court records, Feralo’s rap sheet includes convictions for reckless assault; possession of drug paraphernalia; criminal trespass; driving under the influence; theft; and attempted possession of drugs. She was arrested in 2022 for possession of fentanyl, but a disposition in that case is not available.
Casbohm has previously been convicted of theft; soliciting; criminal trespass; receiving stolen property; possession of drug paraphernalia; and attempted drug abuse.
