Two men went into a local post office in Ireland on Friday to try and make a quick buck off a dead man’s pension—and, naturally, they brought the body with them.
In an incident almost eerily reminiscent of Weekend at Bernie’s, one man initially tried to enter Hosey’s shop and post office in the Irish town of Carlow to claim the pension on behalf of another man. He was told no, and he later returned with two other men—one breathing, one not—to claim the payment, according to the Irish Times.
The post office staff was then alerted by a suspicious customer that the man may not be conscious, prompting the staff to refuse the request and call the Gardaí, the Irish police force. Once the men realized their jig was up, they dropped the body and fled. The elderly man, 66, was pronounced dead at the scene.
“I cannot believe anyone would do something like that,” Carlow Mayor Ken Murnane told the Independent. “It beggars belief, I’m just shocked.”
Neighbors said the deceased man, who has not been named, was a friendly presence in the neighborhood and was universally well-liked.
“He was a lovely man, a lovely neighbor and we’re all very upset,” one woman told the Independent.
The Garda confirmed to the Irish Times they were investigating the incident with a focus on determining the man’s cause and time of death.
Authorities have not released the names or camera footage of the suspects, but they were believed to have been captured on the store’s CCTV cameras.
“The staff in the shop are very shook up from it,” local councilor Fergal Browne told the Independent. “I’d like to offer my sympathies to the man’s family also. It’s a bizarre and upsetting situation.”
