Medical Examiner’s Office worker charged with stealing from dead woman in South Jersey

A 49-year-old employee of the Burlington County Medical Examiner's Office was charged with using a dead woman's credit cards to make nearly $7,500 in personal purchases, authorities said Friday.

Willie Garcon, of Brooklyn, N.Y., was arrested Thursday and charged with theft by unlawful taking and credit card theft. He was being held at the Burlington County jail pending a detention hearing.

An investigation began earlier this month when a relative of a woman who died in March reported to the Lumberton Township Police Department that new charges had been reported on the deceased woman’s credit cards.

Garcon, who began working for the Medical Examiner’s Office in February, had responded to the woman’s home after police found her body during a wellness check. Garcon transported the body to the Burlington County morgue.

Investigators determined that Garcon began using the woman’s credit cards two days later, authorities said. He purchased $817 in flooring from Lowe’s, a laptop from Staples for $876, two Apple Watches for $876, and an airline ticket for a trip to Haiti, where he is originally from, according to prosecutors.

The Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office asked that anyone who suspects a theft from a deceased loved one since February to call 609-265-5035 and ask to speak to a detective.