Man Who Took Uncle’s Corpse to Post Office for Pension didn’t know He was Dead’

A man in Ireland says that he is not an idiot nor was he acting with malicious intent after he took his dead uncle’s corpse to the post office to collect his pension. He claims that he simply was unaware that his uncle was not, in fact, alive. Naturally, many people in his town are finding that rather hard to believe.

Man Says He Accidentally Took His Dead Uncle To Collect His Pension At The Post Office

A worker at the post office in Carlow in South East Ireland had quite the interesting shift – one they aren’t soon to forget. This is because 40-year old Declan Haughney, assisted by another man, brought his dead uncle into the post office to collect his pension. (1)

They reportedly supported him on their shoulders and dragged/carried the deceased man five minutes to the post office near his home. Upon entering the post office, they propped his ashen-faced uncle up against the glass to request his pension check. Startled by the frightening hue of the dead 66-year-old’s skin, the postal worker called the authorities. Haughney and his helper then apparently got spooked, dropped the man, and took off.

Not An Idiot and Not A Murderer

Since the incident, Haughney claims that he is the “talk of the town” and has been labeled a murderer by the rest of its citizens. He was even assaulted in the street over the whole thing. He says, however, that he was not trying to rob his uncle nor did he kill him. He claims that he was unaware that the man had passed.

“Why would I want to rob my uncle? I’m 40 years of age yeah, I’m not a child, I’m not a young fella. I’m not an eejit to walk into Hoseys with a dead man and collect his money. Am I cuckoo? Am I cuckoo? I’m not.” he said.

Not His First Run-In With The Law

Haughney is the first to admit that he used to have a drug problem, which he served two years in prison for. He tried to use a fraudulent credit card that was under his aunt’s name to support his bad habit, which is what he got caught for in the past. That, however, was 15 years ago. Haughney says he has been drug-free for three years now and that this whole incident was just a big misunderstanding.

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His Uncle Had Been Dead For Several Hours

Naturally, an investigation took place to determine the circumstances of Haughney’s uncle’s death and whether or not the nephew actually had a part to play. The Irish authorities did find that there were no suspicious circumstances surrounding the man’s death and that he was in fact dead for at least three hours before his little trip to the post office. (2)

“A postmortem of the deceased has been concluded,” read the coroner’s report. “The results of the post mortem are not being released for operational reasons. Foul play is not suspected.”

A Family In Mourning

Since the incident, the family has finally been able to have a proper funeral service for their deceased loved one. During the service, Haughney acted as one of the lead pallbearers. In the service, the priest said that no one should be pointing any fingers, rather, they should be supporting the family who has lost a loved one. The man’s niece read a eulogy at the service that was a testament to the man their uncle was. She described him as someone who loved each of his nieces and nephews as if they were his own children. (3)

“Peadar treated each and every one of his nieces and nephews as if we were his own children – and he was like a second father to us all,” she said. “Peadar’s positivity was contagious. He was witty and had a great memory of quotes from classical movies, literature and poetry.” 

She described him further as a great cook who had worked as both a caretaker and a waiter. He was a quiet man and a brilliant painter. She said her uncle made you feel cared for and loved in his own, quiet way.

“Peadar was a quiet man who was always proud of and devoted to his family. In public, he was dignified and polite – kind and cheerful to everyone he met,” she described her uncle. “To him, loving and caring for his family and making so many memories with them was what was most important to him.”

Though the case of malicious intent surrounding the uncle’s death is closed, the authorities are still investigating the situation to discover whether or not Haughney is being truthful about his intent at the post office.

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