NEWS

Police: Funeral director stole corpse's ring

Douglas Walker
The Star Press

WINCHESTER -- Authorities said a Winchester funeral home owner stole a wedding ring from the finger of a deceased man shortly before his burial, then sold the ring to a Richmond pawn shop for $75.

Greg W. Thayer, 64 -- operator of Thayer Funeral Home, 327 E. Franklin St. -- was charged Monday with theft, a Class A misdemeanor carrying up to a year in jail.

According to a court document, a witness told authorities that after mourners left a July 8 graveside service for a Union City man in Winchester's Fountain Park Cemetery, Thayer asked him to open the burial vault because he had "forgotten to do something."

"The witness observed that Greg Thayer opened the casket and reached in and removed a ring from the body of the deceased," Annette Randall, an investigator on Randolph County Prosecutor David Daly's staff, wrote in an affidavit. "According to the witness, Thayer told him not to tell anyone."

Members of the Fountain Park Cemetery Board later met with Daly, and on July 27, the prosecutor requested an investigation by Indiana State Police.

Andy Byers, an ISP detective, met with Thayer at his funeral home on Sept. 8.

He said the funeral home owner at first denied removing any jewelry from the deceased man's body, but then "quickly admitted he took the wedding band from the left finger... and took it to Richmond to pawn it."

Asked why he had stolen the ring, Thayer said "he couldn't see something that valuable being buried," the document said.

The funeral home owner -- who maintained he had never removed anything from a corpse before -- acknowledged the deceased man's widow "wanted him to be buried with (the gold band)."

The detective reported he rejected an offer from Thayer "to buy the ring back and make the whole situation go away."

Byers determined Thayer had pawned the ring at All American Pawn, on South 11th Street in Richmond, within a few hours of the man's service.

Detective Dodd recovered the ring from the pawn shop. On Sept. 15, he met with the widow of the ring's owner, who to that point was unaware of the theft investigation.

"She immediately confirmed that it was (her husband's) wedding ring," the document said. "She stated that he was to have been buried with it."

On Tuesday, Thayer's attorney, Jason Welch, waived an initial hearing on behalf of his client. Randolph Superior Court Judge Peter Haviza set a bench trial for Dec. 3.

Thayer was charged with driving while intoxicated in 2009. He avoided a conviction in that case by completing a deferral program.

Contact news reporter Douglas Walker at (765) 213-5851. You can also follow him on Twitter @DouglasWalkerSP.