An Overland Park couple has entered guilty pleas in federal court for stealing retirement money and social security benefits from a dead relative for six years.
On Sept. 26, Lynn and Kirk Ritter pleaded guilty to wire fraud and theft of government funds in the U.S. District Court of Kansas in Kansas City, Kansas.
The Ritters hid the body of Mike Carroll, 81, Lynn’s father, in their Overland Park home while they collected more than $215,000 in retirement payments and social security benefits, according to court documents.
Carroll died in July 2016
A retired Sprint employee, Carroll received money from his retirement plan and social security benefits from January 2008 to November 2022.
While Carroll lived with the Ritters in their Overland Park home in the 11800 block of West 99th Terrace, Lynn served as his primary caretaker, according to court documents.
When Carroll died, the Ritters didn’t inform any authority, from law enforcement to the Social Security Administration, of his death, and instead continued to transfer his monthly benefits to their bank accounts.
Since Carroll’s death in 2016, the couple made a total of 76 direct deposits into their accounts, totaling about $147,430 in social security benefits and $68,638 from his retirement plan, according to court documents.
Carroll’s body was found in the house
On Oct. 23, 2022, Kirk Ritter contacted the Overland Park Police Department and informed them that Carroll had died and his body was inside their home.
When the police arrived, they discovered Carroll’s body in a “mummified state,” according to court documents.
After removing the body, authorities determined Carroll died in July 2016 because that’s when his pacemaker stopped working, according to a Kansas City Star report.
The couple was not charged for storing Carroll’s body because keeping a dead body undisturbed in someone’s home is not against the law in Kansas, according to a Fox report.
The Ritters face prison time and restitution
The wire fraud charge carries punishments of up 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, three years of supervised release and restitution in the amount of about $68,638 and a $100 mandatory special assessment, according to court documents.
In addition, the theft of government funds charge carries a maximum sentence of up to 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, three years of supervised release, restitution in the amount of about $147,430 and a $100 mandatory special assessment.
Calls to the Ritters’ attorney for comment were not returned. They are scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 19.
Other Overland Park crime news: Man arrested after hours-long standoff at Overland Park home
