Man charged with hiding overdose death, stealing victim’s money
Washington County authorities say that after his friend died of a drug overdose as the two men did drugs in a car, an Addison man drove around with the dead body for 13 hours while he drained the dead man’s bank account, then dumped him in a marsh, where he was discovered a month later.
Matthew R. Naab, 34, faces felony charges of hiding a corpse and identity theft, plus six related misdemeanors from events July 27 and 28. He is being held at the Washington County Jail on $150,000 bail.
According to the criminal complaint: Stephen Lombard, 30, was reported missing July 29 by his mother. She’d last seen him leaving her Jackson residence with Naab. Lombard told his mother they were going to watch a movie at Naab’s house but he never returned, and his phone appeared turned off when she tried to call.
Naab first told sheriff’s and Jackson police investigators that Lombard had never come to his house that night to watch the movie as planned. Later, he admitted driving Lombard to Milwaukee to buy cocaine, then dropping him off at a location back in Jackson early the next morning.
But surveillance video did not show either man or Naab’s father’s pickup, which he said he was driving. Naab’s father confirmed that his son returned the truck hours later than the time Naab gave investigators. Inside the truck, they found an ATM receipt from Lombard’s account.
Further investigation found the truck’s license plate had been recorded in several locations in Milwaukee the night of July 27 and the morning of July 28. Surveillance video from those areas showed the truck, with Lombard leaning over in the passenger seat, gasping for breath in one video, and not moving at all in video from later locations.
When confronted with the additional information Aug. 24, Naab admitted, “You guys are right. I freaked out,” agreed Lombard’s family deserved closure and told investigators where to look for his remains. They were found that day under some pine boughs off a gravel road.
In announcing an arrest in the Lombard missing person’s case last week, Washington County Sheriff Martin Schulteis called it unconscionable that “someone would have such wanton disregard for human life to not seek medical attention for someone in need” and drive around for half a day “while emptying the victim’s bank account and eventually discarding the body like a piece of trash. No human being deserves that lack of dignity.”
Naab is also charged with obstructing an officer and five counts of bail jumping. He has a prior conviction for theft in a business setting and a pending charge, filed in July, of fraudulent use of a credit card.
Lombard had been released from the Outagamie County Jail two days before he disappeared. He and his grandfather stopped at a credit union to deposit CARES Act stimulus money Lombard had received.
At some point, while driving with Lombard’s body in the truck, Naab used Lombard’s phone to call the credit union to change the PIN for Lombard’s debit card, which Naab used to make several withdrawals.