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A man from Missouri faces allegations of a gruesome deception that allowed him to continue collecting his deceased uncle’s government benefits. The scheme involved concealing the body of the uncle, a disabled veteran, in a trash can, resulting in more than $650,000 in fraud.
The alleged crime is so cold-hearted it has stunned even seasoned prosecutors.
According to federal prosecutors, Brian K. Ditch, aged 44 from Salem, Missouri, engaged in the prolonged mistreatment of his paralyzed uncle, Thomas Clubb, who was an Army veteran with quadriplegia. Ditch is accused of imprisoning and ultimately discarding his uncle.
Ditch then lived for years off the man’s disability checks while telling relatives he had been moved to a nursing home.
Authorities discovered the grim reality behind Ditch’s home, in a shed located in the rural expanse of Dent County. There they found Clubb’s decaying body, placed in a trash bag within a garbage can, left to decompose for nearly six years.
‘This is an abhorrent, reprehensible crime,’ said Assistant US Attorney Derek Wiseman, who has been prosecuting federal cases for a decade.
‘A crime committed against a family member. A veteran. Somebody without the use of their arms and legs. It’s a disturbing and flagrant lack of regard for human life.
‘I’ve never seen anything like it,’ Wiseman said. ‘This case is something else entirely.’
Federal prosecutors say Brian K. Ditch, 44, of Salem, Missouri, stands accused of hiding his uncle’s dead body in a trash can in order to keep stealing the disabled veteran’s government benefits – to the tune of more than $650,000
The body of Thomas Clubb, an Army veteran with quadriplegia, was found stuffed into a trash bag inside a garbage can and left to decompose for nearly six years
Ditch was indicted on Wednesday in US District Court in St. Louis on 11 federal counts, including wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, theft of government property, and illegally possessing firearms as a felon.
He also faces six state charges, including abandonment of a corpse.
Court documents and investigators say Ditch received sole custody and care of Clubb in 2008.
The US Department of Veterans Affairs rated Clubb as 100% disabled, paying him more than $9,500 per month due to injuries and dementia stemming from a car accident in Germany during his military service.
The Social Security Administration also sent him over $235,000 in additional disability and retirement benefits since 2008.
But instead of caring for him, prosecutors say Ditch locked Clubb in a garage for more than a day at a time 24 hours at a time, depriving him of food and water and forcing him to sit in his own urine and feces.
The indictment claims Ditch would physically and emotionally abuse Clubb – and anyone else who got in his way.
‘To execute his scheme to defraud the defendant not only assaulted his quadriplegic uncle, but he also physically and emotionally abused his kids and significant others,’ the court filing states.
Clubb’s remains wrapped in a trash bag inside a garbage can hidden behind the house
‘This is an abhorrent, reprehensible crime,’ said Assistant US Attorney Derek Wiseman. ‘I’ve never seen anything like it. This case is something else entirely.’
Family members, including Angie Crowder, Clubb’s niece and Ditch’s cousin, said they last saw him in 2018.
‘Things seemed normal. He looked healthy and fine,’ Crowder recalled.
But when years went by without a word from Clubb, family members began calling nursing homes and the VA – searching for a man Ditch claimed had moved out with another caregiver.
Their suspicions eventually led them to tip off the Missouri health department and on March 5, the Salem Police Department received the hotline call.
By March 21, the horror was confirmed as police discovered Clubb’s remains wrapped in a trash bag inside a garbage can hidden behind the house.
While Clubb’s body lay rotting in the shed, Ditch lived large, investigators say.
He allegedly used the stolen money to buy exotic reptiles, take vacations, and enrich himself while lying to everyone who asked about Clubb’s whereabouts.
The case is being heard at the US District Court in St. Louis, Missouri
Despite being a convicted felon with prior charges for burglary and domestic battery, he also illegally possessed three shotguns, found in his home by Salem police.
Court records say between January 2019 and March 2025, Ditch collected at least $650,000 in benefits he wasn’t entitled to.
Prosecutors argue the only reason the payments continued was because Ditch never reported Clubb’s death.
‘The Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General is committed to holding accountable anyone who exploits veterans or steals their VA benefits,’ said Gregory Billingsley, Special Agent in Charge of the VA OIG’s Central Field Office.
The Dent County coroner told KSDK that the cause of death will likely remain undetermined due to the advanced state of decomposition.
DNA tests are still pending, but prosecutors are confident the remains are those of Thomas Clubb.
Crowder, still in shock, is organizing a funeral and says the family plans to bury Clubb next to his parents.
T-shirts have also been made t-shirts reading ‘Justice for Tom Clubb.’
‘He liked to talk. He loved reading the newspaper,’ Crowther said. ‘He was family.’
Ditch is expected to plead not guilty in federal court. If convicted, Ditch could face decades in federal prison.
