Convicted caretaker to give up cemetery

The man stole $93,000 from the cemetery's maintenance fund.
CINCINNATI (AP) -- A convicted caretaker has agreed to give up control of a cemetery that is at the center of a lawsuit filed by the state.
Robert Merkle, who spent 18 months in prison for stealing $93,000 from the cemetery's maintenance fund, and the cemetery's board of trustees agreed to let someone else take over the job.
The deal was reached during a hearing Friday as part of a lawsuit filed by Ohio Attorney General Jim Petro.
"You are out of the cemetery business," Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge Steve Martin told the trustees.
The city has refused to help care for the 24-acre Wesleyan Cemetery, Martin said. Hamilton County officials have to decide whether there is money in the budget to provide upkeep. County and city officials are expected in court later this month to decide how the cemetery will be maintained.
Banding together
Relatives of some of the 17,000 people buried at the cemetery have banded together to mow the grass and maintain the grounds.
Merkle took over as caretaker in 1995. He was convicted in May 2002 on charges of theft and failure to maintain an endowment fund that was supposed to be used for upkeep of the cemetery.
Merkle was released from prison in November 2004, but remained in charge of the cemetery. Petro got involved because under state law, the attorney general is the only person who can sue to remove board members from a trust, which is how the cemetery is operated.