Woman jailed after faking death with stolen corpse

MOLLY Daniels spent weeks surfing the internet, gathering information for a bizarre and grisly plot of deception.

She learned how to burn a human body beyond recognition. She sought clues on ways to deceive arson investigators, and took meticulous steps to create a new identity for her husband.

Daniels then dug up a woman’s corpse, staged a fiery car accident to fake her husband’s death, and had him re-emerge as her new boyfriend. Authorities say it was all to collect a $110,000 life insurance policy while hiding her husband, Clayton Daniels, from the cops.

Molly Daniels pleaded guilty this past week to felony charges of insurance fraud and hindering apprehension, and was sentenced to the maximum 20 years in prison.

Daniels, 22, insisted the plan wasn’t motivated by greed, but rather was an attempt to keep her husband out of prison stemming from a sexual assault charge. “It was about keeping our family together,” she tearfully told jurors.

The plot began to take shape last year after Clayton Daniels, 24, pleaded guilty to sexual assault charges. He was allowed to stay out of prison after the plea, but never reported to his probation officer, drawing a 30-day jail sentence.

Three days before he was to report to jail, police found a burned-out Chevrolet at the bottom of a roadside cliff. The corpse behind the wheel was unrecognisable, its head and limbs burned away.

Molly Daniels told friends and relatives her husband had died.

A few weeks later, Daniels introduced “Jake Gregg,” her new boyfriend, to their children, ages 4 and 1. He looked a lot like Clayton Daniels but had dyed black hair.