Men Deny Taking Corpse To Claim Pension: 'He Was Alive When We Left The House'

Two men were accused of bringing a corpse to an Irish post office in an alleged bid to claim the deceased man’s pension money.

The men, however, claimed the person was alive when they left the house in the town of Carlow, authorities said.

The suspicious incident began with Declan Haughney arriving at the post office Friday to collect his uncle, Peadar Doyle’s, pension payment. When he was told the pensioner would have to be present in person, Haughney left and returned with Doyle as well as another man, according to the Irish Times.

A woman at the post office became suspicious when the older man seemed to be propped up by the other two. She informed another staff member, following which the two men escaped, leaving Doyle's body behind.

The deceased was believed to be in his 60s.

“A post-mortem (autopsy) of the deceased has been concluded,” a police spokesperson told LADbible. “The results of the post mortem are not being released for operational reasons. Foul play is not suspected.”

One of the accused men, identified as Gareth Coakley, told media outlet Sunday World that he joined had Haughney in taking the latter’s uncle to the post office. He also claimed they gave Doyle “a glass of water to drink before we left.”

“He was alive when we left the house,” Coakley added.

Coakley said he stayed over at Haughney’s house the previous night, and agreed to accompany them to the post office in the morning.

“He (Declan) had asked the woman in the post office if he could collect the payment and she said: 'No, you may bring him down,'” Coakley said.

Coakley also claimed they had to lift the uncle up and take him to the post office. He said they could feel his body getting heavier and heavier until they couldn’t hold him up anymore.

"He probably died in the post office - at the ice-cream freezer, I'd say that's where he dropped off,” Coakley said.

“The papers are saying he was already dead but that's bullsh–t” Coakley continued. "He was alive - 100 percent. We're hardly going to drag a dead man down the road, for f— sake. He was still alive, and the autopsy will prove there was water in his system and what time he died.”

Investigators questioned both Coakley and Haughney following the incident. No arrests have been made so far.