A Fairfield Township man has pleaded guilty to hiding his cousin's death for more than eight months so he could keep collecting state benefit checks meant for the dead man, prosecutors say. Steven M. Blankenship, 59, is accused of living inside the mobile-home trailer with the decomposing body of his 72-year-old cousin, Marine Corps veteran Michael S. Blankenship, for most of that time.
Police say Steven hid the July 2024 death of Michael S. Blankenship, a Marine Corps veteran, according to WFPG. New Jersey State Police did not find Michael's body until April 2025, when troopers went to the home in Evergreen Estates to conduct a well-being check, per the same report. As the New York Post reported, troopers noticed a smell consistent with decomposition while knocking on Michael's door, according to court documents.
When investigators searched the trailer, they found Michael's body wrapped in three layers of plastic inside a rear bedroom closet, according to nj.com. The closet door knob had been removed, and the door itself was sealed with electrical tape, the outlet reported, though the Post's account of the same search described the door as sealed with duct tape. A handwritten note found at the scene said Michael died on July 27, 2024, from “dementia-related causes,” per nj.com's reporting on the note described by police.
A Note That Explained the Motive
Police believe Steven wrote that note himself, and it reportedly disclosed that he had continued using Michael's credit card and income. According to the nj.com report, the defendant continued paying bills using his cousin's income because of his own physical and financial decline. Prosecutors said Steven collected his cousin's state benefits and, per nj.com, stole nearly $14,000 from the state over the roughly eight months the death went unreported. He is also accused of using his cousin's credit card to get cash and purchase items, the outlet's report states.
Michael Blankenship was discharged from military service in 1970 and was later buried with full military honors in 2025, per the WFPG report. A grand jury indicted Steven in July 2025 on charges of theft and desecrating human remains. He initially rejected a plea deal that would have carried a 12-year prison term before ultimately pleading guilty, according to the Post's reporting.
Guilty Plea and Upcoming Sentencing
Steven pleaded guilty to the desecration and theft by deception charges in return for prosecutors agreeing to recommend a prison sentence of 10 years, WFPG reported. Under the terms described by the Post, he also agreed to pay $15,000 in restitution to the New Jersey Department of Labor. He is due back in court for sentencing on December 11.
The case echoes a pattern federal authorities have flagged elsewhere: the Justice Department's National Fraud Enforcement Division has announced enforcement actions targeting fraud in Social Security Administration benefit programs, including Supplemental Security Income, according to a Justice Department announcement. For Michael Blankenship's family, the case closes with a guilty plea but leaves the final sentencing still ahead in Cumberland County.
