Denver police Tuesday arrested a man in connection to a case of body parts stolen out of a mausoleum in a Jefferson County cemetery.
Investigators identified John Wayne Belknap, 46, from evidence left at the scene of a private mausoleum at Crown Hill Cemetery, where entombed body parts were stolen Oct. 11; he is being held in the Jefferson County jail on charges of felony criminal mischief, abuse of a corpse, third-degree burglary, theft and desecration of a venerated object, the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.
Belknap does not appear to have a relationship with the decedents entombed in the mausoleum, officials said.
Investigators are still searching for the stolen body parts.
Jefferson County sheriff’s officials said deputies at 7:20 a.m. Oct. 11 were dispatched to a report of damage to a mausoleum at the cemetery, at 7777 W. 29th Ave.
There, the deputies found “severe damage to the crypt front on a private mausoleum, as well as damage to the crypt and casket inside,” the sheriff’s office said in a previous news release.
Belknap allegedly entered the cemetery during overnight hours, forced entry into the crypt and gained access to the casket, officials said Wednesday.
