The man did it like it was a 'normal routine'
A family have caught the man who was urinating on their mother's grace - only to find out it was her ex-husband.
Linda Louise Torello died from cancer at the age of 66 in 2017 and is buried at a cemetery at Tappan Reformed Church in Orangetown, New York.
But "almost every morning", the family found faeces and urine on her headstone. So they decided to set up hidden cameras to catch the culprit in the act.
Linda's son, Michael Murphy, posted the footage they captured
on Facebook. It showed the man getting out of his car, walking over to the grave and weeing on it in what was described as a "normal routine".
The family later identified the man as Linda's ex-husband, whom she had been briefly married to but divorced in 1974. They had not had contact with him since 1976.
https://www.facebook.com/mikey.d.murphy/videos/468345928563740/?t=0
In the post, Michael wrote: "THIS IS BREAKING MY HEART.
"A man from Bergen county New Jersey has been leaving bags of poo and p*****g on my mother's tombstone almost every morning like a 'normal routine' assisted by his wife also.
"We have weeks and months of evidence. It has been reported to the police and the news outlets. No one in my family has had contact with him since 1976 or so.
"How he found my mother's grave site we are not sure. But this stems back to a problem almost 50 years ago. Pray for us thank you and please share this!!!"
Michael and his sister Renee Eichler Barragan also discovered that the man's wife would often accompany him on his trips to the grave.
[caption id="attachment_360635" align="alignnone" width="1536"]
Michael Murphy set up the hidden camera to find the culprit (Michael Andrew Murphy/Facebook)[/caption]
They told the
Daily Voice that their mother's marriage to the man broke down when she became pregnant and he did not want responsibility for the child.
Despite gathering evidence of the New Jersey man visiting the headstone four days in a row, the family were told by local police that they were unable to prosecute the offender.
Michael is hoping to take the complaint to a judge as New York State law states cemetery desecration is only a crime if damages are in excess of $250 (£231.28).
He believes he has surpassed that threshold after "paying a hazmat company to remove all her decorations that are soaked in urine and have the headstone properly cleaned and some of grass ripped up and replaced, plus the permits to let these companies enter the cemetery."
Related links:
