An employee of the Burlington County Medical Examiner’s Office has been charged with stealing credit cards from a deceased woman and purchasing nearly $7,500 in home improvement supplies, electronics, airline tickets and other items.
Willie Garcon, 49, of the 1200 block of New York Avenue in Brooklyn, was charged with theft by unlawful taking (third degree) and credit card theft (fourth degree). He was taken into custody on May 21 and lodged in the Burlington County Jail in Mount Holly.
A detention hearing will be held soon in Superior Court, after which the case will be prepared for presentation to a grand jury for possible indictment, according to information provided by Burlington County Prosecutor Scott Coffina on May 22.
The investigation began earlier this month after a relative of the decedent contacted the Lumberton Township Police Department and informed investigators that new charges had accrued on her credit cards since the time of her death in March, according to the statement.
The investigation revealed that Garcon, working as an investigator for the Medical Examiner’s Office, allegedly responded to the decedent’s home after she had been discovered by police during a well-being check. She died alone, and as a routine function following an unattended death, the Medical Examiner’s Office was contacted. In this incident, Garcon took custody of the decedent and brought her to the Burlington County morgue in Westampton, according to the statement.
The investigation further revealed that Garcon allegedly began using the decedent’s credit cards two days after transporting her body, accumulating $7,500 in charges. He allegedly purchased $817 in flooring from Lowe’s, a laptop from Staples for $876, two Apple Watches for $876 and an airline ticket for a future date from Newark to Haiti, where Garcon is originally from, according to the statement.
Garcon began working at the Medical Examiner’s Office in early February of this year. Anybody with a deceased loved one who came into contact with the Medical Examiner’s Office since that time and suspects a theft may have occurred is asked to call the Prosecutor’s Office at 609-265-5035 and ask to speak to the duty detective.
Garcon will be prosecuted by Assistant Prosecutor Brian Faulk, supervisor of the BCPO Special Investigations Unit (SIU). The investigation was conducted by the Lumberton Township Police Department, with assistance from the BCPO SIU. The lead investigator was Lumberton Township Detective Aaron Roselli.