Man Accused Of Stealing Vases From Local Graves

By Emily Weaver
Daily Record of Dunn

A Dunn man is facing 137 criminal charges related to recent grave robberies throughout the Dunn area.

Jason Chatham Brickhouse, 49 and homeless, is accused of stealing nearly 100 bronze vases from graves at Harnett Devotional Gardens in Dunn and Lakeside Memorial Gardens in Lillington.

Brickhouse is charged with 44 counts, each, of disturbing grave markers, larceny and possessing stolen goods.

He is also facing five counts of obtaining property through a false pretense after Lee’s Auto Recycling reported to police that he lied to them when he scrapped the stolen bronze vases at their shop. Brickhouse was being held on a $25,000 secured bond in the Harnett County Detention Center Thursday.

The vases were valued at $350 each. According to Brickhouse’s arrest warrants, the floral arrangement vases were reportedly snatched from the graves of: Edmond and Linda Wade, Dora Wade, Steven and Brenda Staley, Pamela Denise Snipes, George and June Salmon, Thurman and Doris Pierce, Jerry and Bonnie Peacock, Alfonza and Voneta Page, Jack and Phyllis Nordan, Bobby and Arlette McNeill, Frances McLamb, James and Annie McGee, Charlotte McElyea, William and Sondra Lee, Jeffrey Jones, Aubrey Jones Jr., Johnny and Vonnie Johnston, James and Arlene Jackson, John Henry House, Sherrill Hairr, Shelby Greene, Linda and George Gomes,Larry and Joyce Godwin, James and Delores Floyd, Donald and Diane Dennis, Carl and Sylvia Denning, Lenora Daniels, Jackie Clower, Leroy and Margaret Bowman, Marshall Bowden Jr., Hubert Bowden, Phillip and Pauline Baucum, Milton and Gladys Barefoot, Linwood Barefoot, Ira Barefoot, Morris Ahl, James W. Coats, Bill and Lou Ennis, Judy Daniels, Joyce Coats, Jennifer Arrington, John McDowell, Rodney Mills, and Joseph Smith.

More charges were expected Thursday as the investigation into the graverobbing spree continued.

Brickhouse has a long history of arrests and convictions dating back to 1999 when he was accused of misdemeanor larceny in Johnston County. That charge was dismissed. His first conviction in North Carolina was recorded in 2002 when he was found guilty of possessing stolen goods in Harnett County. Convictions since then, include forgery, submitting worthless checks and multiple counts of larcenies, felony break-ins, possessing stolen goods and vehicle break-ins. He was released from his last prison term in 2024.