Pa. man guilty of taking money from dead roommate

PITTSBURGH (AP) — A suburban Pittsburgh man who buried the body of his housemate in his back yard has pleaded guilty to cashing the dead woman’s Social Security checks.

Kenneth Zang, 59, of Turtle Creek, pleaded guilty today to one count of theft of government property. Authorities say Zang cashed checks totaling $34,000 from November 2004 to July 2008.

The checks belonged to 70-year-old Mary Whetsell, who died of natural causes in 2004. Zang told authorities he buried Whetsell in their backyard without telling anyone because he couldn’t afford a funeral.

Authorities discovered the woman’s badly decomposed body in July 2008 when her estranged son came to the home to look for her.

Zang will be sentenced Oct. 1.