Derek Tanke Sentenced To Jail Time For Staying In Motel Room With Girlfriend's Corpse

Man Who Stayed In Motel With Girlfriend's Corpse For Days Sentenced

A suburban Chicago man who stayed in a Joliet, Ill. motel room with his dead girlfriend's corpse for two days, while buying alcohol with her money, was sentenced to one and a half years in prison Wednesday.

Derek Tanke, 43, pleaded guilty to using his girlfriend's ATM card to buy a bottle of vodka two days after Nancy Johnson, 54, passed away at the Bel-Air Motel room they had been sharing, Joliet Patch reports. Tanke was convicted of concealing a death and unlawful credit card use.

Tanke had been arrested six times previously for beating Johnson.

He reportedly told police that he punched the woman in the face several times days before she died, but the Chicago Sun-Times reports that Johnston had several medical problems and died of cirrhosis of the liver, a cause unrelated to the assault. Tanke was homeless when Johnston died in February, according to court records.

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