Details revealed in case of decomposing body found at Canton Township home
The case involving the Canton Township couple living with a man鈥檚 decomposing dead body for more than four months inside their tiny two-bedroom home took a strange twist as details were revealed during a preliminary hearing Tuesday.
Debbie Bebout, who is accused of knowing for months that her brother-in-law, Michael Bebout, died around Labor Day in 2024 and was left lying in bed for months in order to cash his Social Security checks, accepted a tentative plea deal that could have her out of jail by next week.
But her husband, James Bebout, who claims he knew nothing about his brother鈥檚 death and called 911 when he discovered the body Jan. 16, challenged the charges against him during his preliminary hearing, but was ordered to stand trial and could remain jailed for months while his case is adjudicated.
Both Bebouts appeared by video from the Washington County jail for their preliminary hearings Tuesday afternoon before District Judge John Bruner. Debbie Bebout, 64, agreed to waive charges of theft, criminal conspiracy and abuse of a corpse in order to take a 鈥渇ast-track鈥� hearing Tuesday at the Washington County Courthouse in which she is expected to plead guilty to one felony count of theft with an expected sentence of time served of 27 days in jail.
James Bebout, 68, was apparently offered a similar deal, but declined it and instead decided to have evidence and testimony presented at the hearing, which at times was macabre.
鈥淚 can鈥檛 agree to something I didn鈥檛 do,鈥� Bebout told his public defender, Kristin Fiori, before the hearing.
Greene-Washington Regional police Cpl. Adrian Poux testified that he was called to 500 Hayes Ave. in Canton Township the morning of Jan. 16 for the report of a dead body. When he entered the house and greeted James Bebout, he said he immediately noticed an extreme hoarding situation and it 鈥渟melled like death鈥� inside.
鈥淚t was such an overwhelming smell,鈥� Poux said. 鈥淚t was an olfactory deluge.鈥�
James Bebout led the police officer to a bedroom, where only a curtain hung in the doorway between the living room and where Michael Bebout鈥檚 skeletal remains laid in bed under a blanket.
鈥淚t was a horror show, for a lack of a better word,鈥� Poux said. 鈥淚 figured I鈥檇 see a body that was 24 to 48 hours old.鈥�
An autopsy determined that Michael Bebout likely died in late August 2024 near Labor Day, although no foul play is suspected. James Bebout said he discovered the body when he went to serve his brother breakfast that morning because Debbie Bebout, who served as caretaker, was jailed the night before on a bench warrant, online court records show.
鈥淚 told him there was no way he didn鈥檛 know what was going on,鈥� Poux said. 鈥淗e was dazed.鈥�
Upon further investigation, police learned that Debbie Bebout had been continuing to cash Michael Bebout鈥檚 Social Security checks, Poux testified. They also continued to live in the house, which online tax records show was owned by Michael Bebout until it was sold three months ago. Poux said Debbie Bebout admitted to taking the money and cashing $6,189 worth of checks, although the officer did not have her written confession available during Tuesday鈥檚 hearing.
鈥淪he knew he passed away and she was the primary caretaker and they were living off their Social Security and the defendant鈥檚 Social Security,鈥� Poux said.
Fiori questioned Poux whether Debbie Bebout ever implicated her husband or indicated he even knew of the alleged theft, and the officer admitted that she never accused James Bebout of taking any money.
鈥淪he spent all of it,鈥� Poux said, adding Debbie Bebout used the money to pay for kerosene to heat the home, along with groceries and other living expenses.
鈥淏ut we鈥檙e sitting here because of your accusations about James鈥� involvement,鈥� Fiori said.
In arguing that Bruner should dismiss all charges against her client, Fiori said there was no proof that James Bebout played any role in the theft or was even aware his brother was dead.
鈥淭his is a highly unusual situation. I鈥檒l acknowledge that,鈥� Fiori said. 鈥淯nfortunate things happen. They鈥檙e not always crimes.鈥�
But Assistant District Attorney Robert West argued there were 鈥渃ommon sense factors鈥� at play, such as the 鈥渋mmediate smells鈥� that greeted police officers and the mere linen that separated the bedroom from the living room, where the couple slept each night on couches for four months just a few feet from the dead body.
鈥淚naction is action when it comes to the desecration of a body,鈥� West said. 鈥淚 believe that鈥檚 what happened here.鈥�
After hearing nearly an hour of testimony, Bruner dismissed the felony theft charge, but ordered James Bebout to stand trial on one felony count of conspiracy to commit theft and a misdemeanor charge of abuse of a corpse.
鈥淟iving at the same address as the body negates (the claim) that the defendant wasn鈥檛 aware,鈥� Bruner said.
Greene-Washington Regional police filed charges against both Bebouts on Dec. 9, and they were arrested two days later.
James Bebout is being held at the Washington County jail on $6,000 cash bond while he awaits his formal arraignment at 9 a.m. Jan. 27.
Debbie Bebout, who is being held at the jail on $25,000 cash bond, is expected to appear for her 鈥渇ast-track鈥� hearing Tuesday before President Judge Valarie Costanzo, according to her defense attorney Jake Miholov, who negotiated the plea deal with West before the preliminary hearing. As part of the tentative plea deal, she will also be required to pay court costs and restitution.