A Ridgewood man will be spending a great deal of time in prison for killing his grandmother and then storing her body in her home for several months after her death, prosecutors announced on Wednesday.
Christopher Fuhrer, 31, pleaded guilty in August to second-degree manslaughter and concealment of a human corpse for causing the death of Erika Kraus-Breslin, 85, in May of 2016, then hiding her body in the 65th Street home they shared for the following five months.
According to Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown, Fuhrer went to great lengths to mask the odor of his grandmother’s decaying body, which he kept in a second-floor bedroom. He wrapped her body in numerous plastic garbage bags, then painted them over; he also hung numerous air fresheners around the room.
Officers from the 104th Precinct visited the home in October 2016 on a safety check at the request of Kraus-Breslin’s relatives. They discovered her body during their visit and took Fuhrer into custody.
During the course of their investigation, police learned that Fuhrer had cared for Kraus-Breslin for five years up to her death. He initially stated that he refused to report her death out of fear of losing his home.
An autopsy conducted by the Chief Medical Examiner’s office determined that Kraus-Breslin had died of asphyxiation and neck compression.
At his sentencing on Sept. 19, Fuhrer was ordered to serve between 5 and 15 years behind bars.
