Hospital Worker Paid Cable Bill with Rings Stolen from Dead Patient

By Chuck Sudo in News on Mar 17, 2011 5:40PM

Here's a story that could have been a plot from a Val Lewton movie. An employee at a Downers Grove hospital was charged pleaded guilty to felony theft. Frederick Tapley of Romeoville stole the wedding and engagement rings last July from a deceased patient at Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital while transporting the woman's body to the morgue, then pawned them and used part of the money to pay his cable bill.

Tapley helped police locate the rings, which may go in his favor when he's sentenced for the crime later this year. He faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison.