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Man Disguised Himself As His Dead Mother For Three Years While Keeping Her Body In The Basement
A man disguised himself as his dead mother for three years, while keeping her body in his basement.
In a shocking case that has drawn comparisons to the classic comedy film Mrs. Doubtfire, an unemployed Italian nurse stands accused of an elaborate three-year fraud scheme in which he dressed as his deceased mother while her mummified remains lay hidden in their family home.
The 56-year-old man from Mantua allegedly disguised himself as his late mother, 85-year-old Graziella Dall’Oglio, donning women’s clothing, makeup, and a wig to perpetuate the deception.
According to Italian authorities, per People, Ms. Dall’Oglio died in 2022 at the age of 82, but her son never officially reported her death.
Instead, he allegedly wrapped her body in sheets, placed it in a sleeping bag, and concealed it in a room of their home, where it eventually became mummified.
Something didn’t add up
The scheme began to unravel on November 16 when the man appeared at a registry office in Borgo Virgilio, approximately two hours east of Milan, to renew his mother’s identity card, MailOnline reports.
An observant clerk noticed inconsistencies in his appearance that raised immediate suspicions.
“She looked very much like the woman in the photo on the ID. But there was something that didn’t convince the employee, like the hair on her neck, the heavy makeup, and it looked like beard holes were protruding from the greasepaint,” explained Francesco Aporti, the mayor of Borgo Virgilio.
The clerk’s concerns prompted further investigation.
Mayor Aporti described how authorities reviewed surveillance footage and discovered additional red flags.
“[We] analyzed the video surveillance footage and saw the woman arrive in a car. Alarm bells ringing: the woman doesn’t have a driver’s license … piece by piece, the picture of this unpleasant situation began to emerge,” he said.
Details that gave him away
When officials examined the case more closely, they noticed other telltale signs of the deception.
“He came into the council offices wearing a long skirt, he was wearing lipstick and nail varnish, a necklace and old-style earrings,” Aporti told the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera.
“But up close his neck was too thick and his wrinkles were strange, the skin on his hands did not seem to be that of an 85-year-old woman. His voice was feminine but every so often it dipped and sounded masculine.”
The clerk contacted both the mayor and police, and the man was called back to the registry office for questioning.
When confronted by authorities, he admitted to the disguise and confirmed that Graziella was indeed his mother.
The financial trail
According to reports, the man had been collecting approximately €53,000 (roughly $60,000) annually through his mother’s survivor’s pension from her late husband, as well as income from the family’s real estate holdings, which included three houses and land, per the BBC.
Following his confession about the disguise, the man agreed to allow authorities to search his mother’s home.
There, investigators made a grim discovery: Graziella’s mummified body hidden in a room.
“The body was in a clear state of mummification,” police stated.
A disturbing discovery
“He agreed to that. They searched the house and found a mummified body,” Mayor Aporti confirmed. “She probably died of natural causes but that will be established by the postmortem. It is a very strange story and very, very sad.”
The mayor noted that despite the fraudulent activities, the family appeared to have adequate resources.
“In any case, they had no financial problems … It’s a very, very sad story,” he said.
The case has drawn inevitable comparisons to the 1993 comedy film Mrs. Doubtfire, in which Robin Williams’ character disguises himself as a female housekeeper.
However, the real-life situation is far from humorous, involving serious criminal allegations and the disturbing concealment of human remains.
The man is currently under investigation by the Registry Office of the municipality of Borgo Virgilio for multiple charges, including concealing a corpse, fraud against state damages, impersonation, and falsehood in public.
An autopsy is expected to be performed to determine the exact cause of Ms. Dall’Oglio’s death, though authorities believe she likely died of natural causes.
A troubling pattern?
This bizarre case joins a troubling pattern of similar incidents across Europe.
In Austria in 2021, a 66-year-old man was discovered to have kept his 89-year-old mother’s body in his basement for over a year while collecting her pension payments, per NBC.
That case also involved an elaborate cover-up, with the suspect using ice packs and bandages to mask the smell of decomposition.
The Italian investigation continues as authorities work to determine the full extent of the fraud and the circumstances surrounding Graziella Dall’Oglio’s death and concealment.
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