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http://www.starnews.com/news/articles/cem0324.html - Judge sentences tombstone thieves -
Local pair who stole 2 grave markers and vandalized cemetery get jail time, probation. -
By William J. Booher - Indianapolis Star - March 24, 2001 - SHELBYVILLE, Indiana -- Two
people who pleaded guilty to the theft of two tombstones from Boggstown Cemetery now know
their sentence. Chrisann Michelle Tindle, 27, and Robert A. Bohlen, 20, Shelbyville, were
sentenced in separate courts for the tombstone thefts and damage to the cemetery in
September. Both pleaded guilty to the Class D felonies of cemetery mischief and theft.
Bohlen was sentenced Thursday by Shelby Circuit Judge Charles D. O'Connor to one year
in prison and two years on probation. O'Connor also sentenced Bohlen to serve an
additional year of incarceration for violating probation on an earlier, unrelated theft.
Tindle was sentenced Monday by Shelby Superior Court 1 Judge Jack Tandy to serve 240 days
on house arrest in addit!
ion to the 24 days she spent in jail before resolution of her case. Bohlen and Tindle were
implicated in the thefts by a Shelbyville friend who alerted police that a tombstone had
been placed in her basement, said Shelby County Prosecutor R. Kent Apsley. Police said
they found the second stolen tombstone in a vehicle of one of the two suspects. One of the
tombstones dated to the late 1800s. Apsley said incidents of cemetery vandalism in the
area during the past several years are sickening. "It's shameful, and it just
made me sick," he continued. "It absolutely astounds me that people can think
that there is anything funny about desecrating a cemetery." - Contact William Booher
at (317) 865-4912 or via e-mail at william.booher(a)starnews.com - Copyright 2001 Indiana
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