Judge keeps charges against man caught burglarizing woman's home days after her death

PITTSBURGH — A family said they caught a man burglarizing their mother's home days after she died, and he appeared in court Wednesday.

After another court hearing, the victim’s family told Channel 11’s Renee Wallace her house was never abandoned as the defendant claimed.

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Joseph Fisher hoped the criminal charges he faces for allegedly breaking into the dead woman’s house in Garfield and stealing family heirlooms would be dismissed. However, the judge held both the felony burglary and theft charges against him.

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Police said Fisher, who lived next door, broke in through a back window in September and took the woman’s belongings. According to investigators, Fisher decorated his home with the woman’s grandfather clock, her radio and other belongings.

Fisher allegedly told police he thought the house was for sale. Then he said he thought the house was abandoned.

His trial date has not yet been set.

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