Detectives say a routine death investigation in West Palm Beach took a bizarre turn when they realized someone had allegedly rolled the body into a city trash can before officers ever showed up. That discovery has now landed 65-year-old Richard Fred Fishel in the Palm Beach County jail on a felony charge, accused of disturbing a dead body during the months-long probe.
According to WPBF 25 News, the investigation began on March 30, when officers responded to a reported death and concluded the body had been moved before they arrived. Detectives later pulled surveillance video that they say shows two men pushing a city-issued trash can toward the spot where the person was eventually found. An affidavit states that another man told investigators he and Fishel put the body into that trash bin and then moved it. Police say they tracked down a trash can that matched the one in the footage and found blood and sand inside, consistent with evidence near the deceased. The affidavit alleges Fishel never reported the death and knowingly moved the body without authorization, and authorities say he was arrested Monday and booked into the Palm Beach County jail on a felony count of disturbing a dead body or nearby articles.
What state law makes unlawful
Florida law does not leave much wiggle room when it comes to handling human remains. Under Florida Statutes Section 406.12, willfully touching, removing or disturbing a body, or items close to it, without proper authorization and with the intent to conceal or alter evidence can be prosecuted as a third-degree felony. Lawmakers recently amended the statute to spell out reporting duties more clearly and to stiffen penalties for efforts to hide deaths from medical examiners or law enforcement.
Similar cases across Florida
Prosecutors around Florida have been bringing similar charges in cases where, investigators say, people tried to hide or relocate bodies to dodge scrutiny, with video and physical evidence often playing a central role. In one example, Fort Myers police this spring arrested and charged a man after authorities said he removed his roommate’s body, wrapped it and failed to report the death, according to Gulf Coast News. Cases like that help explain why detectives work so quickly to secure scenes and preserve potential evidence, even when it turns up in places as unexpected as public trash containers.
It is not yet clear whether prosecutors plan to pursue additional charges in the West Palm Beach case. WPBF 25 News reports that Fishel was booked on the single felony count, while the Palm Beach County sheriff’s office has not released further information as investigators continue to collect evidence and coordinate with the medical examiner’s office.
