DOYLESTOWN, Pa. (AP) — A Pennsylvania man has been ordered to stand trial on charges of looting a family’s burial crypt that dates to the 19th century.
A judge ruled Friday that there was enough evidence for 28-year-old John Paxson of Doylestown, in suburban Philadelphia, to face trial in Bucks County Court on charges that include burglary and abusing a corpse.
Authorities accuse Paxson of breaking into the Doylestown Cemetery crypt of James Doyle, who died in the 1890s, and stealing a brass rail from the casket and copper. Cemetery officials say Doyle and eight others in the crypt are believed to be descendants of William Doyle, the pre-Revolutionary War tavern owner after whom the town is named.
Defense attorney Richard Fink sought dismissal of the charges, saying prosecutors had not proven that his client entered the crypt.
