Man given probation for stealing his ex-girlfriend's late husband's ashes

A man from Perryopolis, western Pennsylvania, was sentenced on Thursday to serve one year of probation for stealing an urn containing the ashes of a former girlfriend's late husband. Fayette County Senior Judge Gerald Solomon sentenced James R. Cronin, 63, on a charge of theft.

Linda Mattox reported that she arrived at her home late one evening last July and noticed several pictures on the floor and a bronze urn containing her husband's ashes missing from atop a television. Mattox told police she and Cronin had dated for four years, but the relationship ended in 2012 when he married another woman. She said Cronin continued to text her. She said Cronin had a key to her home, which she had tried to obtain from him.



Mattox said that when her son returned from a fishing trip that night and denied doing anything with his father's ashes, she called police. Trooper David Hamer said he went to Cronin's residence early the next morning and he denied going to Mattox's home, saying he had been out drinking at two bars the night before. Cronin agreed to allow the trooper to look around the property. Cronin told Hamer a plastic tool box in the driveway contained only gas.

When Hamer opened the box, he found a bronze urn with the name “Keith Mattox” engraved on it. Cronin said he “wanted to hurt his ex-girlfriend, so he took the urn,” according to a police affidavit. The urn was returned to Linda Mattox, who addressed the court prior to Cronin's sentencing. “Had it not been for the quick response of (state police) finding it on James Cronin's property, I would have never gotten my late husband's cremains back. I wanted to thank the troopers for their quick response,” she said.