A Sanford man accused of stealing a wedding ring from a 102-year-old woman after her death has been sentenced.
Stuart Weston, 51, was sentenced in York County Superior Court in Alfred on Friday to serve three months in jail, according to the Saco Police Department.
Weston, who worked for Autumn Green Funeral Home in Alfred, was sent to pick up the body of Laura Wood at a Saco nursing home after her death on Jan. 21, 2021.
Her family learned that the ring — three rings fused together with an appraised value of $4,000 — and other items were missing a couple days later when they went to retrieve Wood’s belongings at the funeral home.
The theft was reported to the Saco Police Department, and the ring was later found at a South Portland coin and jewelry buyer, where staff identified Weston after a review of records and video surveillance.
Wood’s granddaughter, Emily Coyne, told the Portland Press Herald last year the ring was a family heirloom that symbolized her grandmother’s nearly 80-year marriage.
Autumn Green Funeral Home told the newspaper that it terminated Weston’s employment after learning of the theft.