Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey filed criminal charges Thursday accusing the county coroner of stealing cash from the dead and falsely stating the causes of death for several people.
Bailey also filed a motion to remove Cape Girardeau County Coroner Wavis Jordan. The criminal charges include three felonies of providing false information in a vital record and one misdemeanor count of theft.
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“My heart goes out to the victims of this incident, whose lives have been forever changed,” Bailey said in a statement. “That is why I am moving for the immediate removal of the Cape Girardeau coroner.”
Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey filed criminal charges against the Cape Girardeau County coroner. (Fox News Digital)
Mr. Jordan said he had not been informed of Mr. Bailey’s allegations and declined to comment.
Jordan, a Republican, was elected coroner for southeast Missouri in 2020. If he is convicted, he could be sentenced to up to 12 years in prison.
The man died in April at his Cape Girardeau apartment, according to Bailey’s court filing. Police photographed his wallet, which contained cash. Mr. Bailey then wrote that Mr. Jordan confirmed that he had the wallet, but the money was gone. Jordan denied to police that he had received the money.
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The filing lists several deaths that appear to be suicide or drug overdose, but in each case Jordan listed the cause of death as “natural causes.”
