The Body in the Shed

He kept his quadriplegic veteran uncle locked away, hid the man’s body in a shed when he died, told relatives he was in a nursing home — and kept cashing $1.8M in benefits, some spent on exotic reptiles. 156 months.

Ditch became solely responsible in 2008 for his uncle, a U.S. Army veteran with quadriplegia, but instead kept him locked away with insufficient care and verbal abuse while wiring himself money from the veteran’s accounts. About $1.6 million of the take was deposited by VA Disability Compensation since 2008, plus $235,210 from Social Security.

After his uncle died around 2019, Ditch concealed the death from relatives, the VA and the SSA — hiding the body in a shed behind his house and telling relatives the man was in a nursing home.

He spent the benefits on personal purchases including exotic reptiles and firearms he was barred from possessing as a convicted felon. VA OIG, SSA OIG, ATF and Salem police investigated. He pleaded guilty to wire fraud, aggravated identity theft and felon-in-possession.

"Ditch hid the body in a shed behind his house"
— U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Missouri

Source: U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Missouri. Case file in the VA Fraud case files — part of the VA Fraud record. Cases are published as the courts decided them; amounts are stated as the Justice Department states them (billed, stolen, or ordered in restitution, as labeled).