Man Pleads Guilty To Dumping Friend's Body Behind Dumpster: Bucks DA

BENSALEM, PA — A Bensalem man pled guilty to charges related to him leaving the body of a man who overdosed in his apartment behind a dumpster.

Maksim Stankevich, 41, pleaded guilty before Common Pleas Judge Raymond F. McHugh on charges of abuse of a corpse, theft, and receiving stolen property. He was sentenced to one to two years in Bucks County Correctional Facility by McHugh, who compared his actions to that of an animal, according to the Bucks County District Attorney's Office.

Stankevich was charged in October following an investigation that began when a man overdosed in Stankevich’s apartment in Bensalem Township on Sept. 16, 2021.

According to court documents, Stankevich wrapped the victim’s body with a rope and blanket and left him behind a dumpster of a nearby apartment complex. Bensalem Township Police were dispatched that afternoon to the Townhomes at Gateway apartment complex, 335 Thunder Circle, on a report of a body found.

The deceased man was later identified as Dean Alexander DeJesus, 40, whose body was discovered behind a red dumpster and covered by a black and gray blanket that was secured to the body with blue nylon rope, according to police. Stankevich said he found DeJesus on the bathroom floor.

Camera footage from the apartment complex confirms the incident happened between 4:43 a.m. and 5:50 a.m. on the day of the incident. Police say that Stankevich placed DeJesus' body in a trash can and took him to the dumpster.

Stankevich was later found to be in possession of several items belonging to DeJesus, including his Motorola G7 cell phone, Puma backpack, and two T-shirts for a combined value of $145.

"To have treated Mr. DeJesus with dignity would only have required the Defendant to take a fraction of a second to dial 911,” Deputy District Attorney Marc J. Furber said following Friday’s sentencing.

“Instead, he made the conscious decision to treat a deceased friend like a piece of garbage, leaving his body to rot behind a dumpster.”

District Attorney Matt Weintraub said there was no excuse for Stankevich to not report this overdose since the good Samaritan law provides immunity for reporting drug overdoses.

“I hope that the family of Mr. DeJesus can find some consolidation in knowing that this behavior will not be tolerated in Bucks County.”