THURMAN, GLENDA - Faulkner County, Arkansas | GLENDA THURMAN - Arkansas Gravestone Photos

Glenda THURMAN

St Peter's Episcopal Church Columbarium Cemetery
Faulkner County,
Arkansas

Sept 16, 1939 - May 30, 2009

*Marriage Date: 19 Aug 1961
Marriage Place: Denver, Colorado, USA
Spouse:
James L Thurman

www.ancestry.com

*LITTLE ROCK — A Conway man was out of jail Thursday pending trial on a felony charge of abuse of a corpse over accusations that he left his dead mother tucked in her bed for weeks in the house they shared.

The charge against Mark Thurman, 47, is one of only about three dozen abuse-of a-corpse cases filed in Arkansas in the past three years, according to the state Administrative Office of the Court.

Conway police discovered Glenda Thurman's decaying body May 30 after her other son, the Rev. Glen Thurman, called them from his home in Ohio.

"My family and I are grieving the loss of my mother," Glen Thurman said in a statement he released Thursday to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. "We were shocked to learn of the circumstances surrounding her death."

Beginning in mid-May, Glen Thurman said, he had repeatedly called the Conway house that his mother had long shared with his brother.

The calls went unanswered and were not returned, he said.

"I became increasingly concerned about my mother after trying for a few weeks to phone her," Glen Thurman explained.

Eventually, the phone number was disconnected.

By May 22, he was so worried about his 69-year-old mother, who spent 22 years as a professor at the University of Central Arkansas, that he called Conway police and asked them to check on her.

Officers found Mark Thurman at the unkempt house on Frances Drive that day but not Glenda Thurman, Glen Thurman said. When they returned the next day, no one answered the door.

Mark Thurman finally called his brother on May 23 and promised to pay for more minutes on his cell phone so that mother and son could talk. Over the next few days, Glen Thurman said, his brother made "excuses" about why their mother had not called him.

On May 30, "Mark finally admitted to me that she had died and was in the house. He stated he was not sure how long it had been since her death, but it had been 'a while,'" Glen said.

According to a police report, Mark Thurman told officers that his mother had been dead about three days and that she was diabetic.

Faulkner County Coroner Pat White said Thursday that Glenda Thurman's death appears to have been of natural causes. He estimated that she had been dead at least two weeks and that he "made that estimate on the low side."

Glen Thurman said in a telephone interview that he flew to Arkansas the day after his mother's body was discovered and that he tried to talk to his brother about what happened.

But his brother did not explain why he had not called anyone about his mother's death, Glen Thurman said.

Asked whether his brother may have been mentally ill at the time of their mother's death, Glen Thurman said, "I really don't have a good sense on whether or not that's what's going on with him."

According to the police report, Mark Thurman "seemed anxious and unorganized" when police arrived May 30.

"Mark was quiet for the most part, but from time to time he would talk about events in history and earthquakes," an officer wrote.

Mark Thurman was not charged until Wednesday. He posted a $2,500 cash bond the same evening.

He could not be reached for comment Thursday. The phone number listed for him on the police report had been disconnected.

Prosecuting Attorney Marcus Vaden said Thursday that Mark Thurman is not accused of mutilating his mother's body. Instead, the charge stems from "his inaction" and things he did to "mask the fact that she was dead," Vaden said.

Vaden declined to say what was done to mask Glenda Thurman's death.

Abuse of a corpse is a Class D felony that carries a maximum punishment of six years in prison.

Glen Thurman said Thursday that his brother should be punished "because, I mean, my mother did die, and he did not notify anyone for quite some time."

However, Glen Thurman said he hopes the circumstances of his mother's death won't overshadow her accomplishments as an author and associate professor in library media and information studies. She retired in 2006.

Arkansas, Pages 11, 14 on 06/12/2009

Contributed on 2/5/23 by hawkinsdonna48
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Record #: 1470063

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Additional THURMAN Surnames in ST PETER'S EPISCOPAL CHURCH COLUMBARIUM Cemetery

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Submitted: 2/5/23 • Approved: 2/5/23 • Last Updated: 2/8/23 • R1470063-G1470063-S3

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