State to pay costs of killer's burial
The state of Michigan, not Washtenaw County, will pay the burial costs of convicted killer Wilford P. Cashman, who died Thursday of heart failure two weeks before he was to be sentenced.
After reviewing the circumstances of the case, county officials learned that the state Department of Social Services handles funeral and burial costs of indigents, said county public defender Lloyd Powell, who represented Cashman during his murder trial that ended in December.
Funeral services for the 75-year-old Cashman will be at 2 p.m. Thursday at the Nie Funeral Home, 2400 Carpenter Road. Burial will follow at 3 p.m. at United Memorial Gardens, 4800 Curtis Road in Plymouth.
Additional costs for the services will be donated by Nie Funeral Home, Powell said.
Cashman, who was charged with first degree murder in the 1970 shotgun slaying of his girlfriend, was convicted of second degree murder by a Washtenaw County Circuit Court jury on Dec. 3.