Police in Minnesota suspect that a man reported his elderly mother dead after traveling to a bank with her corpse in a wheelchair to withdraw money in her name.
According to Fox 8, David Vanzo ventured to a Wells Fargo with his 90-year-old mother, Caryl, to make an $850 withdrawal. Bank employees claim that the woman's feet were dragging beneath the wheelchair, and that they were unable to tell whether or not she was breathing. Hours later, he reported her dead. However, responding police officers arrested the Plymouth, Minn. native for neglect after being shocked by the home's squalor:
But when Plymouth police arrived at the home, they were overwhelmed by the stench of urine and feces. They found the woman in bed, wearing a robe and fur coat, her boots covered in feces.
Fox 8 adds that David Vanzo was previously investigated for financial exploitation of his mother:
But authorities investigated David for financial exploitation on at least two occasions. There was a reverse mortgage his mother couldn't explain to the tune of $118,000, cash withdrawals of $47,500, and another for $25,600.
Vanzo, who insists that he withdrew the money from a joint account, maintained his innocence to Fox 8. "I gave my life to keep my mother alive," he said. "Look at my eyes."
[via Fox 8]
