In May 1996, the body of Jasper "Jack" Watkins was discovered by a Loudoun sheriff's deputy stuffed in a trunk and left near a trash can along Route 340 at an access point to the Appalachian Trail. He was 76 at the time of his murder.
There was no identification with his remains. He was identified in January 2003 using military records.
Watkins, who served in the U.S. Army, was laid to rest Aug. 14 at Arlington National Cemetery.
"It took 13 years of hard work by intrepid investigators and persistent prosecutors for the trunk that served as Jack Watkins' coffin to make it from a curb in Loudoun County, Virginia, to a courtroom in Baltimore, Md., to his final resting place in Arlington National Cemetery," said U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein.
In April 2009, Nancy Jean Siegel, 61, of Baltimore, was sentenced to 33 years for murder and fraud in a decades-long identity theft scheme.
According to federal prosecutors, Siegel seduced Watkins and stole his money, murdered him, dumped his body in a trunk and left it in the trash so she could continue to collect his Social Security and retirement benefits for seven years.
In 1994, Siegel met Watkins, a widower nearly 30 years older than she was, when she sold him a mausoleum and burial services.
According to witness testimony, Siegel and Watkins became inseparable and both represented their relationship as a romantic one, sometimes describing Siegel as Watkins' fiancee.
Within months, by December 1994, Siegel began to use Watkins' accounts, making extensive charges for a variety of items, including clothes, jewelry and larger purchases.
Siegel sold Watkins' home in April 1996. Watkins was rapidly running out of assets to liquidate. Siegel began taking steps to have Watkins wrongfully committed for psychiatric care, while pawning his personal assets.
Watkins was murdered in May 1996. Siegel drove to Virginia and dumped his body.
For seven years after Watkins' death, until July 2003, Siegel diverted Watkins' Social Security and retirement annuity payments to her own use, and continued to use his identity and financial information to open new accounts and use his existing accounts.
She was caught in August 2003.
Representatives who worked the case from the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office, the Social Security Administration, the Office of Inspector General, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Attorney's Office attended the funeral service.
In May 1996, the body of Jasper "Jack" Watkins was discovered by a Loudoun sheriff's deputy stuffed in a trunk and left near a trash can along Route 340 at an access point to the Appalachian Trail. He was 76 at the time of his murder.
There was no identification with his remains. He was identified in January 2003 using military records.
Watkins, who served in the U.S. Army, was laid to rest Aug. 14 at Arlington National Cemetery.
"It took 13 years of hard work by intrepid investigators and persistent prosecutors for the trunk that served as Jack Watkins' coffin to make it from a curb in Loudoun County, Virginia, to a courtroom in Baltimore, Md., to his final resting place in Arlington National Cemetery," said U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein.
In April 2009, Nancy Jean Siegel, 61, of Baltimore, was sentenced to 33 years for murder and fraud in a decades-long identity theft scheme.
According to federal prosecutors, Siegel seduced Watkins and stole his money, murdered him, dumped his body in a trunk and left it in the trash so she could continue to collect his Social Security and retirement benefits for seven years.
In 1994, Siegel met Watkins, a widower nearly 30 years older than she was, when she sold him a mausoleum and burial services.
According to witness testimony, Siegel and Watkins became inseparable and both represented their relationship as a romantic one, sometimes describing Siegel as Watkins' fiancee.
Within months, by December 1994, Siegel began to use Watkins' accounts, making extensive charges for a variety of items, including clothes, jewelry and larger purchases.
Siegel sold Watkins' home in April 1996. Watkins was rapidly running out of assets to liquidate. Siegel began taking steps to have Watkins wrongfully committed for psychiatric care, while pawning his personal assets.
Watkins was murdered in May 1996. Siegel drove to Virginia and dumped his body.
For seven years after Watkins' death, until July 2003, Siegel diverted Watkins' Social Security and retirement annuity payments to her own use, and continued to use his identity and financial information to open new accounts and use his existing accounts.
She was caught in August 2003.
Representatives who worked the case from the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office, the Social Security Administration, the Office of Inspector General, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Attorney's Office attended the funeral service.
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