Francis Brennick. Contributed photo.
A convicted sex offender who alerted police that a woman had died in Brookfield has entered a guilty plea to a charge of gross abuse of a corpse.
Francis Brennick, 57, of Leetonia, was indicted by a grand jury Dec. 30 on charges of failing to register as a sex offender and abuse of a corpse. The charge of failing to register will be withdrawn at sentencing.
A pre-sentencing investigation is being conducted. Brennick could receive a sentence of probation or prison for up to a year, Trumbull County Common Plea Court Judge Cynthia Westcott Rice said at Brennick’s plea hearing on Feb. 4.
Brennick called Trumbull County 911 on Dec. 7, 2024, saying that a friend, a 71-year-old woman that authorities have not identified, but who shared Brennick’s Delaware address, had died in a camper at Hubbard’s Haven Campground, 1436 Route 7, police said. Brookfield Fire-EMS confirmed that the woman had died, police said.
Police said they found no evidence of foul play or drug abuse, but were struck by Brennick’s emotionless demeanor.
Brennick told the police the woman was a native of Norway and had no family in the United States. He said she had come to the U.S. in the ’90s. He also said they were just friends but had known each other for a long time and lived together for some time.
Brennick said he had last seen the woman at 4 a.m. and had discovered her dead at 10 a.m. Police were dispatched at 12:19 p.m. Brennick’s account of the time difference was that he had had a cigarette before calling 911 and thought it took 10 to 15 minutes, police said.
Police found two cellphones in the camper. One of the phones contained sexually explicit photos of the woman’s body, and were “clearly” taken after she had died, police said. The photos were time stamped between 11:56 a.m. and 12:06 p.m. that day, police said.
The woman’s body was clothed when police arrived, but her pants were not pulled on correctly and would have fallen had she been standing, police said.
Brennick told police he had taken the photos as evidence for himself in case there were bruises on her body or other evidence that would suggest foul play, police said.
He said he and the woman did not have a sexual relationship, police said. That statement is contradicted by the results of DNA tests, police said.
If the case had gone to trial, the prosecution would have shown that Brennick “inserted some part of his body into a corpse, specifically a woman who lived with him, he claimed was not his girlfriend, he never had sex with,” said Assistant Prosecutor Gabriel Wildman. “He then photographed that same individual in a state of nudity after her death.”
Brennick was charged with abuse of a corpse and obstruction on Dec. 9, 2024, but prosecutors decided not to pursue the case to allow time for more investigation.
Police said they also discovered that Brennick is required to register as a sex offender due to a conviction in Massachusetts.
