Man Indicted After Allegedly Locking Army Vet Uncle in Garage, 'Concealing' His Death and Using Benefits to Buy Exotic Reptiles

A Missouri man is accused of locking his uncle — a U.S. Army veteran with quadriplegia — in a garage and concealing his death for five years in order to steal his disability benefits and use the money on exotic reptiles and “lavish vacations.”

Brian Ditch, 44, is accused of stealing at least $650,000 after he began to “fraudulently” obtain his uncle’s government benefits when he was made responsible for his care in 2008, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Missouri.

Ditch was indicted on Wednesday, May 7, and charged with four felony counts of wire fraud, four counts of aggravated identity theft, two counts of theft of government property and one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm.

While his uncle was under his care, Ditch allegedly kept him “locked in his garage and under his control,” often 24 hours at a time. His uncle was forced to “sit in his own urine and feces without the ability to eat or drink,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office said, citing the indictment. During that time, Ditch was receiving $9,559 per month from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs in disability compensation benefits.

Since 2008, Ditch’s uncle also earned $235,210 in social security disability insurance benefits and retirement insurance benefits from the Social Security Administration.

After his uncle died in 2019, Ditch allegedly “told relatives that he had moved his uncle into a nursing home” as he concealed the body, in an effort to continue stealing money. In March, authorities finally uncovered the uncle’s body frozen in a trash can with three shotguns — which Ditch was barred from possessing as a convicted felon, per the indictment.

Ditch has previously been convicted of multiple other crimes, including burglary and domestic battery, according to NBC affiliate KDSK. His uncle, identified as Thomas Clubb, had dementia and was unable to control his bowels or use his hands and feet, the outlet reported.

Ditch’s cousin Angie Crowder told KDSK that Clubb was around 19 when he was paralyzed in a car crash in Germany while serving in the U.S. Army. Eventually, after Ditch informed family that Clubb was at a nursing home, loved ones grew concerned and got in touch — before they heard from a detective, per KDSK.

On March 21, Clubb’s body was discovered wrapped in a trash bag, partially frozen and stuffed inside a garbage can in a shed, according to the outlet.

According to the release, Ditch used his uncle’s benefits payments to buy exotic reptiles, “fund lavish vacations” and “enrich himself.”

“The Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General is committed to holding accountable anyone who exploits veterans or steals their VA benefits,” Special Agent in Charge Gregory Billingsley with the VA OIG’s Central Field Office said in a statement. “VA’s programs and services are established to justly compensate deserving veterans and the VA OIG will bring to justice those who would defraud these programs.”

Ditch, who appeared in U.S. District Court in St. Louis on Friday, May 9, pleaded not guilty, a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office told PEOPLE on Saturday, May 10.

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The case was investigated by the Salem Police Department, the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General, the Social Security Administration Office of Inspector General and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives — with Assistant U.S. Attorney Derek Wiseman prosecuting.

Wiseman told KDSK that the case is “one of a kind.”

“This is an abhorrent, reprehensible crime, a crime committed against a family member, a veteran. Somebody without the use of their arms and legs. It’s a disturbing and flagrant lack of regard for human life,” he said.

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