Morgue Tech Stole Cash from Dead Man's Body, AG Says

NEWARK, NJ - A Piscataway man who worked as a forensic morgue technician in Newark has been charged with stealing cash — from a dead man's body.

Darryl L. Green, 48, of Piscataway, was employed as a forensic morgue technician at the Northern Regional Medical Examiner’s Office in Newark. Specifically, his job was an autopsy photographer; he took photographic records for death investigations. A 28-year-old man was killed in a car crash early Sunday morning in Newark. After he died and was brought to the morgue, Green allegedly stole approximately $1,120 cash he had on him, the state Attorney General said Thursday.

Law enforcement and personnel from the Medical Examiner’s Office saw the money and documented that there was cash in the victim’s pocket at the scene of the accident, where he was pronounced dead and placed in a body bag. This was before Green was near the body. However, the cash was missing when the man’s body was removed from the body bag the following day, Monday, Dec. 19, for an autopsy. Green allegedly opened the body bag at the morgue at some point in time prior to the autopsy and took the cash from the victim’s clothing, the state Attorney General alleges.

The man was killed in a single-car crash that occurred before 3:15 a.m. on Sunday, Dec. 18, on the 300 block of Sherman Avenue in Newark.

Green is currently being terminated from his state position in connection with the charge. He was charged with third-degree theft by unlawful taking. If convicted, he could serve three to five years in state prison and a fine of up to $15,000.

The case is being investigated and prosecuted by the Division of Criminal Justice Corruption Bureau.

Photo: Wikimedia Commons/ Author: P.J.L Laurens