Man Burns Father's Body To Get Social Security Benefits

From WGCL:

A man who admitted burning his father's body a decade ago so the family could continue to cash his Social Security disability checks was sentenced to five months in prison and ordered to pay $133,000 in restitution. ...

Larry McWilliams died of natural causes on Jan. 13, 1997, at the family home's near Lewistown in northeast Missouri.

U.S. Attorney Catherine Hanaway said the family burned McWilliams' body to hide any evidence that he had died.

Betty McWilliams tended the fire to make sure no bones were left unburned, according to Hanaway. All three knew that Larry McWilliams' Social Security benefits would stop if his death was reported.