Accused grave robber behind bars

Police have arrested a man suspected of stealing more than 17-hundred grave markers from an Arizona cemetery.

31-year-old Catlin James Hessler now faces ten felony counts of trafficking in stolen property, but investigators suspect him in even more thefts.

Maricopa County Sheriff’s deputies say Hessler stole some 1,770 brass grave markers from a suburban Phoenix cemetery. Deputies have recovered a hundred markers, more than 16-hundred remain missing.

Deputies say the markers have a combined value of more than $43-thousand.

Cemetery workers installed surveillance cameras when the markers started to disappear. Deputies say those cameras gave them both a vehicle description and a license plate number. They say it turns out the car in question was registered to Hessler’s parents.

Hessler admits going to the cemetery, but says he went there to visit his late girlfriend’s grave.

KYMA 2019