rene Prusik's headstone reads "Everyone is talking about the lady in red," and nine years after her death, it's still true. Kind of. Everyone is actually talking about her son, Thomas Prusik-Parkin, who's accused of wriggling into his mother's "favorite bright-red dress," wearing a wig and makeup, and passing himself off as Irene so he could cash her Social Security checks. The Norman Bates-esque fraud allegedly lasted for six years, netting Prusik-Parkin more than $115,000 in benefits and rent subsidies. The momposter was discovered when he appeared in full drag to tell prosecutors he was being ripped off by a man who'd bought Mother's, um, his apartment building. Prusik-Parkin faces 25 years in prison if convicted.
