Illinois Hospital Worker Steals Rings Off Corpse to Pay Cable Bill

DuPage County, Ill., prosecutors released Wednesday that a hospital worker, who was in dire need of money in order to pay off a cable bill, admitted to stealing two rings off the fingers of a dead woman he was taking to the morgue.

Frederick Tapley, who worked at Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital in Downers Grove, snatched an engagement and wedding ring from a deceased 72-year-old woman back in July.

According to DuPage County Assistant State's Attorney Mary Cronin, the 37-year-old hospital employee stole the rings then pawned them. Tapley told investigators that he was in dire need of money in order to settle a mounting cable bill debt.

Cronin told a judge at Tapley's trial on Wednesday that at the funeral of the deceased woman, a family member noticed that the rings were missing and immediately notified authorities.
After an investigation that took several weeks, Tapley was arrested and the rings, valued at $3,000, were recovered.

Apparently, Tapley's sticky fingers while on duty caught up with him again back in 2001 when he stole credit cards from a patient at another Chicago hospital facility. At the time, he was convicted of a misdemeanor theft and received a sentence of conditional discharge.

However, this go-round, Tapley faces a count of felony theft and may be looking at five years in prison. He will be sentenced in the coming months.