More hearse-thievery

This comes to us from the Houston Chronicle and AP…

CLEVELAND — A corpse was taken for a ride in Cleveland by thieves who stole a crematory’s hearse, then abandoned it with a note saying where they’d dumped the body.

Police on Wednesday found the woman’s body, in a bag and on a gurney, at the intersection specified.

Computer equipment also was taken from the crematory in the break-in early in the day. Sgt. Sammy Morris says Cleveland police are investigating whether the hearse was stolen to haul the gear away. No arrests have been made.

Funeral director Jim Murphy says the corpse was unharmed. It was scheduled to be cremated Wednesday.

The Greenfield Crematory has apologized to the family. It says it was not unusual for the body to have been left in its vehicle, which was locked inside the building.

Weekend at Bernie’s, Cyprus-style

This comes to us from Reuters…

A court in Cyprus remanded two men in custody Wednesday on suspicion of snatching the corpse of former Cyprus President Tassos Papadopoulos, holding it for ransom for three months until its discovery Monday.

The men, a 31-year-old migrant from India and a 48-year-old Greek Cypriot, are suspected of being behind the bizarre crime, for which one of them received just 200 euros ($270) for his assistance to the other suspect.

Police said they raided Papadopoulos’s tomb in December, armed with a pick and a shovel, and buried him elsewhere.

A third man, thought to have masterminded the theft, is already serving a prison sentence for other offences and did not appear in court. He is the brother of the Greek Cypriot suspect.

Police were led to the macabre discovery after the Indian suspect, who authorities say has confessed involvement, made contact with Papadopoulos’s family this week.

“The suspect said he felt remorse, so decided to ask for money to reveal where the body was hidden and leave Cyprus,” said Yiannakis Charalambous, a superintendent with Cyprus police.

The Indian was paid 200 euros with the promise of more which was not forthcoming, Charalambous told the court.

Papadopoulos was president of Cyprus from 2003 to early 2008. He died of lung cancer later that year. When his grave was robbed, police spoke of a carefully planned operation, sought help from Interpol and Western intelligence agencies.

Neither man has been charged. Under Cyprus law suspects can be held in custody on court orders to assist inquiries.

Weekend at Bernie’s?

Houston’s leading information source brings us this pre-Halloween tale…

A Houston man has been charged with three misdemeanor drug offenses after police found him asleep in a closet with a dead man in a vacant Cypress home Sunday.

Cody Jean Plant, 21, also was charged with abuse of a corpse after prosecutors alleged he treated the body “in an offensive manner.”

However, the charge was dropped Monday after a judge examined the allegations in a probable cause hearing. The original charging document did not elaborate on the charge.

Harris County Precinct 4 Constable deputies found Plant and the body of another man, whom they declined to identify, in a closet of a vacant house in the 15700 block of Knauff Ranch Court after the owner and his family reported voices and signs of forced entry about 1 p.m. Sunday.

“There were two guys in the closet. They appeared to be sleeping — one was snoring and the other was deceased,” said Assistant Chief Deputy Mark Herman. “It appeared that they were doing some sort of narcotics — at least the one that they woke up. He was under the influence of something, obviously.”

Plant also was arrested last May and charged with driving while intoxicated. His attorney said he has not spoken to Plant but that the situation sounds like a misunderstanding.

“Once we get to the bottom of this, I think he’ll be cleared,” said attorney Ralph Manginello.

Plant was charged with one count of possession of a dangerous drug and two counts of possession of a controlled substance of more than three grams and less than 28 grams. All are class A misdemeanors punishable by a maximum of a year in jail. Officials would not identify the substances. He remains in Harris County Jail in lieu of $15,000 bail.