A Lancaster County man accused of stealing bodies from a Philadelphia-area cemetery and keeping human remains in his home faces charges in connection with body thefts in Luzerne County, prosecutors confirmed.
Police: Family friend found corpse in basement
A family friend reported that members of Gerlach's family told them they saw a partially decomposed corpse in his basement, but were "afraid to tell the police."
"They suspect he may be behind the Luzerne County mausoleum robbery, which happened around the same time in early November," their online tip stated.
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Jonathan Gerlach, 34, appeared in Delaware County Court Friday morning to waive his preliminary hearing in connection with the charges previously filed in a string of thefts involving human remains at Mount Moriah Cemetery, which straddles the Philadelphia-Delaware County border.
Court documents filed in January indicated Gerlach also was being investigated in the theft of two bodies from Good Shepherd Memorial Mausoleum in Plains Twp., Luzerne County.
The Delaware County DA's office provided documentation Friday confirming that its office will be prosecuting Gerlach on the Mount Moriah case, as well as the Luzerne County case and an unspecified case in Lancaster County. Those documents do not elaborate on the charges.
Court records show Gerlach continues to be held at the George W. Hill Correctional Facility in Delaware County in lieu of $1 million bail. His formal arraignment is set for June 3.
Plains Twp. thefts reported in November
Plains Township police initially announced in November that they were investigating the removal of two bodies from the condemned Good Shepherd Memorial Mausoleum on Westminster Road between Nov. 1 and 6.
An affidavit filed in January said detectives noticed similarities between the Southeastern Pennsylvania and Plains Twp. cases in the means of "gaining entry into the mausoleums and underground vaults and removing human remains."
One of the bodies removed from Good Shepherd was previously identified as Mary Cappellini Piga by her great-grandson, Plains Twp. Commissioner Peter Biscontini. A grandson, Vince Cappellini, also spoke about theft to Newsweek.
The January affidavit identifies the other body stolen from Plains Twp. as Leo Terence.
