Husband, wife take plea deal for stealing ‘mummified’ dead man’s benefits in Overland Park
A couple accused of concealing the death of a family member at an Overland Park home for six years while stealing more than $200,000 in fraudulent benefits paid out on his behalf have pleaded guilty to federal wire fraud and theft charges.
As part of plea agreements filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas Sept. 26, Lynn Ritter, 61, and Kirk Ritter, 61, pleaded guilty to counts of wire fraud and theft of government funds and agreed to pay restitution of nearly $150,000 in Social Security payments and around $70,000 from a Sprint retirement plan, according to court documents.
Both are scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 19.
Kirk Ritter’s attorney, Scott Toth, said he could not comment on the case until after sentencing. Messages sent to attorneys for Lynn Ritter Wednesday were not returned.
Authorities learned of the death of Lynn Ritter’s father, Mike Carroll, 81, of Overland Park, after her husband, Kirk Ritter, told police in October 2022 that Carroll had died and that his body was at the home, according to court documents. Lynn Ritter had served as her father’s primary caretaker.
Police found Carroll’s remains “in a mummified state” in a bed at his home, and authorities later determined that he had died around July 1, 2016. Overland Park police initially investigated the case as a suspicious death, and the Johnson County Medical Examiner’s Office later determined Carroll had died of natural causes.
A family member told The Star last year that authorities determined the man died in July 2016, because that is when his pacemaker stopped working.
Prosecutors alleged Lynn Ritter and Kirk Ritter concealed Carroll’s death and took funds from his account at an Overland Park bank, including money from Social Security and from a pension plan he had as a former employee of Sprint, according to court documents.
Law enforcement found 76 deposits totaling about $69,000 had been made from the Sprint plan, andl roughly $147,000 in Social Security benefits were deposited into Carroll’s account after his death.
A family member told The Star last year that she had always been given excuses why Carroll could not come to the phone.
“We were denied contact with him,” Caroll’s niece, Janet Carroll, said in March 2023. “And now we know why.”
The Star’s Bill Lukitsch and Jenna Thompson contributed reporting to this story.
