Felon hid dead uncle in trash can to keep stealing his vets benefits

A Missouri felon who stored his Army veteran uncle’s remains in a trash can was charged this week with 11 counts of fraud and theft for illegally pocketing $650,000 in disability benefits while concealing the death for years.

Department of Justice officials said Brian K. Ditch, 44, faces multiple counts of wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, and theft of government property. Related, he has also been charged with illegal possession of firearms after investigators looking for his uncle found weapons in the home, in violation of his parole.

Court documents said his uncle, Thomas Clubb, was a disabled veteran suffering from dementia and quadriplegia. Ditch, 44, became Clubb’s primary caregiver in 2008.

But investigators charged that Ditch kept his uncle locked in a garage and without proper care for years while stealing his veterans benefits checks, which totaled $9,559 a month. In addition, federal records showed Clubb was sent more than $235,000 in Social Security Disability Insurance benefits and Retirement Insurance benefits over the last 17 years.

“Instead of properly caring for his uncle, Ditch trapped him in the garage for over 24 hours at a time, forcing his uncle to sit in his own urine and feces without the ability to eat or drink,” Justice officials said in their indictment release.

Investigators charged that after Clubb died in 2019, Ditch continued to pretend he was alive to keep the federal benefits checks from being halted. They said he used the money to buy exotic reptiles and fund “lavish vacations” for himself.

When local police searched Ditch’s home in March, they reported finding Clubb’s partially frozen body in a trash can. Family members told investigators that Ditch claimed his uncle was being cared for by a nursing home, but would not provide details where.

In a statement, Special Agent in Charge Gregory Billingsley with the VA Inspector General’s Office said the arrest came as the result of cooperation between multiple agencies and law enforcement officials.

“VA’s programs and services are established to justly compensate deserving veterans, and the VA Inspector General will bring to justice those who would defraud these programs,” he said.

Prior to this investigation, Ditch was previously convicted for burglary and battery charges. He is scheduled to appear in U.S. District Court in St. Louis on Friday.