BRIDGEPORT, Conn. — A woman who was charged in 2018 in connection with the desecration of dozens of graves was arrested again.
On September 10, Dale LaPrade was arrested and charged with larceny in the first degree.
Detective Kimberly Biehn has been investigating criminal misconduct at the cemetery since 2018. LaPrade was charged with interfering with a cemetery or burial that year.
Complaints from relatives of those buried at Park Cemetery led police to search the property in September. Officials say gravestones and human remains were moved to make way for the newly dead, while human bones, casket pieces, and broken gravestones were found in the woods.
Police say LaPrade has wrongfully portrayed herself as the manager of the cemetery while profiting from sales of burial plots and cemetery services. Detective Biehn discovered LaPrade,64, had withdrawn over $670,000 from the cemetery accounts between 2016-2018.
A forensic fraud examiner who helped Bridgeport Police determined LaPrade had made multiple cash withdraws a day in some cases, and uses over $60,000 of cemetery funds for her personal expenses which were earmarked for burials and perpetual care.
Police say Detective Biehn has been working with Probate and Superior Court, and the impacted families to help bring stability to the cemetery operations. She is also helping families find their loved ones who are buried in the cemetery.
