A New Hampshire woman has been charged with the abuse of a corpse after failing to report her mother's death in May 2021. Instead, Kimberly Heller lived with her mother's body for months so she could keep collecting and cashing in her mother's social security checks.
According to the Bedford Police Department, the family members of Heller's mother asked for a wellness check in October since they had not seen the old woman for some time. When the police visited her home, Heller refused to let them inside, so they had to obtain a search warrant and return the next day.
When they did inspect the house, the police found the old woman's rotting body. A medical examiner from the state said that Heller's mother died of natural causes, and there was no foul play involved.
Potential Wire Fraud Charges
It's still unclear how much money Heller has racked up from her scheme, but the Bedford Police Department said that the mother's bank account remained active "months following her death" as payments from Social Security continue to come in. They determined that the old woman passed away a few days after Memorial Day.
Heller has been in police custody since her arrest in November, and she has a court date for her arraignment for abuse of a corpse on January 6, 2022. The police report, however, did not indicate if Heller would be charged with wire fraud as they are still investigating her case with the help of the federal Social Security Administration Office.
Social Security scams are punishable by imprisonment of at least five years with a corresponding fine that will set back the scammer for thousands of dollars if proven guilty.
Other Pension Fraud Cases
In October, a woman from Las Vegas was also arrested for running a social security scam following the death of her husband. Reports cited that Nancy Shedleski cashed in over $120,000 from her deceased husband's social security checks for four years. Her husband's Social Security records showed that he last had medical care in 2015, and then two years later, his address changed from Pennsylvania to Las Vegas.
When a Social Security staff called in to run a check, Shedleski confirmed the address change and then said they lived together. However, further investigators revealed that her husband has long died in Pennsylvania, and she admitted to cutting up his body into pieces to throw into the trash.
Had the wife reported his death and given him a decent funeral or cremation, she would have received $14,000 as a social security benefit for the survivor. Instead, she is facing charges of theft of the government's money.
In Austria, a man also tried to hide his dead mother's body for over a year so he could collect her pension and other care benefits. Police believed there was also no foul play in her death, and she died of complications from dementia in mid-2020.
Her son wrapped and stored her body in a freezer in the cellar to mask the odor. However, the ruse was uncovered when the person delivering her payment benefits asked to see her in person. When the son refused, the postman informed the authorities that led to the investigation.
