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A funeral home worker has been sentenced for theft after stealing and selling the wedding band and engagement ring of a deceased 102-year-old woman.
51-year-old Stuart Weston, a former employee of Autumn Green Funeral Home in Alfred, Maine, pleaded guilty to a felony theft charge and was sentenced on February 11, according to The Portland Press Herald.
Weston was in charge of funeral arrangements for Laura Wood in January 2021. Wood’s daughter, Sally, told WXSH-TV that, after the service, the funeral home did not have any of her mother’s jewelry. Sally Wood said she later found the rings, which had gone missing, at a local pawn shop called Maine Gold and Silver in South Portland.
Local police said that they were able to identify Weston from the pawn shop’s security footage and records. According to police, five stolen rings were returned to the Wood family.
Weston has since been fired, according to the funeral home’s attorney.