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Man Suspected Of Partying With Dead Friend To Appear In Court

DENVER (CBS4) - One of the two men charged with taking their dead friend for a night on the town is due in court on Tuesday.

Mark Rubinson is to be advised of the charges against him. He and his friend Jeff Young face charges of abusing the corpse of Jeffrey Jarret, along with identity theft and criminal impersonation.

After loading the body in a car they allegedly visited bars and restaurants. Then after taking the body back home they ended the night at Shotgun Willie's strip club in Glendale.

It was at Shotgun Willie's the two men notified a valet and a Glendale police officer that their friend was dead and he was sitting on a couch in his home. Surveillance video obtained by CBS4 shows the two men using their dead friend's debit card.

At 3:40 a.m. on Aug. 28, Young, with a hat on, can be seen on the video entering Shotgun Willies. He is followed by Rubinson, who is in shorts, as they are checked for identification at the front desk. It appears that the man behind the desk asks for something more from the two men. Rubinson puts his hand to his head at that point, but there is no audio, so what he is saying is not known. Young, whose friends refer him to as "Younger," goes immediately to the cash machine just inside the front door.

"According to the video they went to the ATM and withdrew the money on his card, which you know, the machine doesn't know who is getting the money," said Matt Dunafon, Shotgun Willie's General Manager.

They apparently must have had the PIN number for Jarret's card. Glendale police say $400 was taken out of the machine.

Jarret's mother, Donna Jarret, told CBS4's Rick Sallinger cocaine was found inside Jarret's house.

"I've heard that there was a blade of cocaine and remnants of cocaine. That's all I know," Donna Jarret said.

Donna Jarret insisted her son was not a drug addict. Police said in their report stops were made at numerous bars and eateries during the night with the dead man in the back seat. Shotgun Willie's was the final stop.

"With all do respect to the passed away fellow's family and my heart goes out to them, but the whole thing was kind of like this big 'Weekend at Bernie's' festival," Dunafon said.

Dunafon was referring to the 1989 movie in which two men's boss passes away and they pretend he's still alive to keep partying at his home.

Rubinson is due to appear in court Tuesday. Young has a date set for next week.

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