Two Chester County men locked a 62-year-old woman in her basement in a bid to take over her home, DA says

Two Phoenixville men are accused of abusing a woman they lived with, prosecutors in Chester County said, locking her in a basement, siphoning her Social Security money, and attempting to force her to sign away the deed of the house she had lived in for decades.

Christopher Ruse, 24, and David Frame, 37, have been charged with unlawful restraint, tampering with evidence, theft by unlawful taking, and conspiracy for their alleged exploitation of Paula Diarcangelo, Ruse’s 62-year-old grandmother.

The two men waived their preliminary hearings in the case Wednesday, sending the charges up to county court. As part of that waiver, they made an early agreement to plead guilty to the offenses in exchange for prosecutors not seeking jail time against them at sentencing.

But Frame’s lawyer, Jonathan Consadene, said his client maintains his innocence.

“At the present time, this seemed to be the best way to move forward,” Consadene said in relation to the waiver. “We’ll make our final decision at the Court of Common Pleas.”

Ruse’s attorney, Nathan Vonderheide, declined to comment after the hearing.

Investigators began their investigation into the case in March 2022 after receiving a call from Christina Diarcangelo, the victim’s daughter. Diarcangelo said her sister, Ruse’s mother,was speaking to him on the phone and heard Paula Diarcangelo screaming for help, according to the affidavit of probable cause filed in Ruse’s arrest.

On that same call, Ruse’s mother heard Frame cursing at Diarcangelo, and telling her to shut up, the affidavit said.

Officers went to the home on Ridge Road in Phoenixville to investigate, and found Frame and Ruse agitated and evasive, the affidavit said. In the home’s basement, they found Diarcangelo living in squalor: A toilet and shower installed there didn’t work, and sewage was seeping up from the floor, within feet of the bed where Diarcangelo was sleeping.

Diarcangelo was in pain and told the officers that she had fallen off the toilet and hurt her knee. She was taken to Phoenixville Hospital for evaluation.

Diarcangelo later told police that Frame, a friend of her grandson’s, had moved in a few months prior, the affidavit said. Frame had moved her from her upstairs bedroom into the basement, claiming he needed her room because of an upcoming surgery, and would be converting the basement into an apartment for her.

Frame often locked her in the basement with no way of leaving, she said. He and Ruse gave her water and pizza, but broke her cell phone so she couldn’t contact anyone. She was able to escape once, she said, but the two found her and brought her back inside.

Her daughter, Christina, said in a recent interview that Frame and Ruse had long plotted to take over the home.

“They had ruined the house, and gotten rid of all of [my mother’s] personal effects,” she said. “They had a yard sale one day, and sold everything that was ours. Even my father’s urn was missing.”

While the elder Diarcangelo was locked in the basement, prosecutors say Frame took a debit card connected to her Social Security account and used it to rent more than $600 worth of couches, big-screen TVs, and other furnishings from Rent-A-Center.

He also spent more than $1,000 of her money on car insurance payments to State Farm, according to the affidavit.

At one point, Frame brought a notary to the house and attempted to have Diarcangelo sign the deed over to him, but was unsuccessful: It was still in her late husband’s name, the affidavit said.

“This was the best way for someone to take advantage of an elder,” Christina Diarcangelo said. “To prey on someone who wasn’t connected to their family.”

Her mother died in January of a heart attack. She hopes that, amid her family’s grief, what happened to her mother can be a cautionary tale.

“We want to make sure we provide awareness to people,” she said. “If you don’t see your neighbor next door, and you’re used to seeing them, maybe you should check on them.”