Inset: Scott Bailey (Sheridan County Sheriff’s Office). Background: Sheridan County Sheriff’s Office in Sheridan, Wyo. (Google Maps).
A dispute over a father’s ashes has led to criminal charges in Wyoming, where authorities say a man tried to pressure his half-sister by threatening to spread damaging claims about her.
Scott Bailey, 61, is facing two counts of blackmail after police alleged he threatened to “expose” his half-sister unless she turned over the cremated remains of their father, 83-year-old Albert Bailey Jr. According to an affidavit obtained by Wyoming news outlet Cowboy State Daily, Albert Bailey died on Aug. 14 without leaving a will. The outlet noted that under Wyoming law, a person’s remains generally pass first to the surviving spouse before adult children.
Authorities indicated Scott Bailey did not appear to understand that legal order of priority.
April Bailey, Albert Bailey’s wife, supported her stepdaughter’s account that Albert had wanted his ashes to remain with his wife. She also told police that Scott Bailey had a volatile temperament and a history of alcohol abuse.
Investigators said Scott Bailey later arrived at the Sheridan Police Department with his wife and acknowledged leaving the voicemails at the center of the case. He reportedly apologized and told officers he regretted not speaking to his half-sister face-to-face. When questioned about the alleged information he intended to use against her, Bailey described it as a childhood memory that “could have been a dream.”
As for the alleged threat involving violence, Scott Bailey reportedly told police it was “just a joke.”
He was arrested and booked into the Sheridan County Jail, police said.
Scott Bailey is scheduled to appear in court again on Sept. 21, the deadline for prosecutors to present probable cause for the case to continue in Sheridan County’s district court.
The post Man threatened to ruin half-sister’s life over fake childhood secret unless she surrendered his late father’s ashes: Cops first appeared on Law & Crime.
