Spotlighting the Fultonham Cemetery in Newton Township, Muskingum County, Ohio

Sharing the WPA Cemetery Plat Maps for Fultonham Cemetery in Newton Twp., Muskingum County, Ohio.  

The Fultonham Cemetery has 2,698 interments listed for it on "Find A Grave"

 

 

Sharing a follow-up story with the verdict about the thefts at Belmont County Memorial Park - " "Woman Found Guilty in Cemetery Theft Case"

Sharing from "The Intelligencer" - "The Wheeling News Register" in Wheeling, WA, the updated story about the Belmont County Memorial Park Cemetery in Belmont County, Ohio.

By

ROBERT A. DEFRANK FOR THE INTELLIGENCER

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"Karen Neff was found guilty Friday on all counts related to the theft of almost $300,000 from the Belmont Memorial Park Cemetery.

After a four-day trial, the jury deliberated for about two hours and returned guilty verdicts for one count of forgery, one count of theft, and one count of securing writing by deception, felonies of the third degree, all for a sum of more than $150,000. The verdict was met with emotional outbursts from Neff’s family.

Belmont County Common Pleas Judge John Vavra set Neff’s sentence for Feb. 4. A pre-sentence investigation, victim impact statement and Eastern Ohio Correction Center evaluation were ordered.

Neff, 48, of Powhatan Point, faces a maximum sentence of 9 years. She was taken into custody and will be held in jail without bond until sentencing.

Her attorney, John Jurco, asked that bond might continue until Neff’s sentencing.

“Although convicted of these three counts, she has had access to a large amount of money throughout the past years, and she has not absconded,” Jurco said.

“She has been found guilty of three serious felonies,” Vavra said in denying the request.

Neff’s husband and co-defendant Keith Dwayne Baratie Sr. faces the same charges. His trial remains set for Feb. 7.

The cemetery is at 52950 High Ridge Road, St. Clairsville, near the intersection of Interstate 70. The 44-acre cemetery opened in 1937 with the main office located in Bellaire. The cemetery went into receivership in the 1950s and was run by a board of directors, which has since dissolved. Baratie and Neff had been caretakers.

The trial began Tuesday, with the prosecution stating it would present thousands of transactions in a document-intensive case to follow the financial trail. Belmont County Chief Assistant Prosecutor Kevin Flanagan said the state would demonstrate that Neff participated in selling the oil and gas rights on the cemetery ground for $282,000 in 2013, providing documents stating that Baratie was president of the Belmont County Memorial Park Association, and Neff was the secretary.

According to the prosecution, the state also called bank employees, store employees, law enforcement, and an oil and gas representative to testify.

The prosecution rested its case Friday. According to the court, Jurco called no witnesses and Neff did not take the stand.

Vavra thanked the jury for their conscientious and attention during the presentation of evidence.

“It was not an easy case. The testimony was tedious at some times, in terms of the line-by-line analysis of the bank accounts especially, but that had to go into the record and therefore it had to be done in that fashion,” he said.

Vavra added afterward that issues of restitution will be addressed during sentencing."

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The Belmont Memorial Park on "Find A "Grave"

"Memorial Park Cemetery embezzlement trial begins in Belmont County"

Sharing this latest update about the Memorial Park Cemetery in Saint Clairsville in Belmont County, Ohio.

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Per Find A Grave, over 1800 people are interred at the Memorial Park Cemetery.

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Sharing relevant links worthy of note pertaining to the Memorial Park Cemetery in Belmont County, Ohio.:

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http://www.nonprofitfacts.com/OH/Belmont-County-Memorial-Park-Cemetery-Association.html

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https://www.guidestar.org/profile/34-6574998

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I feel that it is way past time for privately owned and operated non-profit cemeteries in Ohio to be more regularly scrutinized by authorities than they have been -- even prior to receiving consumer complaints to reduce bookkeeping discrepancies or other criminal activity, allowing problems to come to light much sooner. 

If agents at these cemeteries sold merchandise and are behind in delivering them, for example, then state or federal investigators need to learn the truth about what is going on ASAP, so the perpetrators do not continue with their crimes.  

As we know, the Ohio Attorney General's office handles all manner of criminal cases and those involving cemeteries are among them.  Adequate resources to properly address and handle cemetery issues at this level, and find timely solutions for them, could often be lacking due to case backlogs.

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Below are links to previous news stories about the Memorial Park in Belmont County, Ohio:

August 9, 2018:

https://wtov9.com/news/local/couple-facing-forgery-theft-related-charges-following-poor-conditions-at-cemetery

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May 31, 2018

Resident in Belmont County Concerned with Status of Cemeteries

http://wtov9.com/news/local/residents-in-belmont-county-concerned-with-status-of-cemeteries