A Massachusetts woman faces new charges after she provided court officials with a fake death certificate in an attempt to avoid her criminal charges, officials say.
Shannon E. Wilson, 44, was indicted by a Plymouth County grand jury on several charges after she previously told court officials in September 2022 that she suffered from terminal brain cancer and then her defense attorney showed screenshot images of a death certificate in May 2023, according to the Plymouth County District Attorney’s Office.
Although no certified death certificate was filed with the court, the woman’s criminal charges were dismissed and all fees were waived.
When investigators looked further into the woman’s supposed death, they found that no death certificates were registered in Massachusetts or Rhode Island and that no hospice, palliative care or funeral services has been provided for Wilson as she had claimed.
Wilson faces one count each of furnishing false identifying information, obstruction of justice, forgery, uttering of a public record and failure to appear after released on bail.
What led to the criminal indictment?
Officials say that Wilson faced multiple criminal matters in Massachusetts court between 2022 and 2023.
As those cases proceeded, officials say that Wilson represented, both personally and through her attorneys, that she was suffering from terminal cancer, was undergoing treatment, had entered hospice care and ultimately died.
On Aug. 15, 2022, Wilson was arraigned in Hingham District Court after a traffic stop. Defense counsel told the court that Wilson was terminally ill and had a limited life expectancy.
An acquaintance of Wilson posted a $400 bail on her behalf, and she was released subject to conditions, officials said.
In the following months, Wilson failed to comply with the conditions of release and failed to appear in court. When prosecutors tried to revoke her bail, Wilson said she had been hospitalized, officials said. The court decided not to revoke her bail, but instructed her that medical issues did not excuse failure to follow the court’s orders.
On Sept. 12, 2022, Wilson appeared in Plymouth District Court on unrelated charges, and again told court officials that she suffered from terminal brain cancer, officials said.
In January 2023, her defense attorney presented a letter purportedly from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute showing terminal disease and hospice case, officials said.
“Relying on those representations, the court dismissed the Plymouth case,” the district attorney’s office said.
Then in May 2023, Wilson’s defense attorney reported receiving messages that Wilson had died and later provided a screenshot image of a death certificate, officials said. The court dismissed the criminal matter and waived all fees.
The document listed terminal brain cancer as the cause of death, named a Rhode Island physician as certified and identified a Boston funeral home, officials said.
An investigation did not find proof of those documents for Wilson, officials said.
In August 2023, the acquaintance who posted Wilson’s $400 bail was unexpectedly visited by Wilson, who admitted she had fabricated her death, officials said.
On July 15, 2023, Wilson was arrested by state police in Wareham after a traffic stop for driving erratically, officials said.
She identified herself under a fake name, claimed to be visiting from Ireland, denied her true identity and again said she was terminally ill, officials said.
There were items in her possession bearing her true name, officials said, and she was arrested.
“The indictments allege that at critical stages of court proceedings — including arraignments, bail determinations, continuances, dismissals, and return of bail — Wilson knowingly made false representations that she was terminally ill or deceased, and that courts relied on those representations in taking judicial action,” the district attorneys office said in a statement.
Wilson is currently in state custody and will appear for her arraignment at a later date, officials said.
