Police - Swindler found victims by reading obits

PHILADELPHIA -- Some people read the obituaries to find out if anyone they know has died.

A tombstone salesman -- now charged with swindling widows out of their money -- read them to find his prey, police said.

At least three agencies are pursuing complaints against William R. Groom, who, according to police, called on widows at their homes soon after their husbands died, selling them gravestones that were never delivered.

Groom allegedly swindled nearly 200 people out of at least $176,000.

"My son's dead four years, and my husband's dead two years, and I don't have a marker," said Rose Papaleo, 76, who said she gave Groom a $1,935 deposit for a family gravestone in March 2001. "How do you think I feel?"

Police in Montgomery County issued a warrant this month charging Groom, 50, in three criminal cases totaling about $4,500.

In 2001, the state attorney general's office filed a civil suit that has grown to include 195 customers of R&J Monuments, run by Groom and his wife, Janet Henry-Groom, in Strasberg, about 60 miles west of Philadelphia. The suit, which is still pending, alleges the business failed to deliver tombstones, delivered them late or with mistakes, and demanded fees beyond the agreed-to price.

Groom also faces a March 14 trial on eight cases in Philadelphia Common Pleas Court.

Lawyer Jim Marsh, who represents Groom on the Philadelphia charges, blamed his client's continued medical problems, which he said include a recent partial foot amputation and hospitalization for heart disease.

"We're trying to get the people paid," Marsh said. "Some of the tombstones he does have, and some are on order."

Groom filed for bankruptcy in October, according to Barbara Petito, a spokeswoman for the attorney general's office. "We are following him into bankruptcy court," she said.

Marsh said he did not know if Groom or his wife -- who has not been criminally charged -- has any appreciable assets.