Story Archive

Getting Even Unto Death

When Paul E. Donovan Jr. was about 13, he says, a friend stole $300 from his bedroom. That, he told police, was why, more than half a century later, he vandalized the man’s tombstone. It was damaged with something the police said resembled black tar, and it was spray-painted. According to the complaint, Donovan, now 69, offered to “pay back any restitution minus the $300.” A Montgomery County, Pa., judge ordered him to pay $1,500 to the dead man’s family, go on probation, and stay away from the grave. (AC/Pottsdown Mercury) ...If he wants justice against the alleged thief, he’ll have to look beyond the grave.