Graduate student, 22, shaved her head and eyebrows and faked terminal cancer 'to get attention from her mother'



Fraud: Victoria Marut, 22, has been charged with forgery for allegedly pretending to have terminal cancer and receiving hundreds of dollars worth of gifts

A Missouri graduate student has been charged with forging documents from a doctor in an attempt to prove that she has terminal cancer, which has turned out to be a lie.

When 22-year-old Victoria 'Tory' Marut, of Kirksville, broke the news that she has non-Hodgkins lymphoma in June, her professors and co-workers jumped into action, organizing a fundraiser and showering her with gifts.

After Marut appeared to have lost her hair to the disease, loved ones donated hats and wigs to cover her bald had.

The only problem was, the 22-year-old Truman State University student was not actually sick, and was in fact shaving her head to draw attention to herself, according to allegations that have since come to light, the Saint Louis Post-Dispatch reported.



Marut's purported web of lies began unraveling earlier this month when Trish Reger, the principal of Kirksville Primary School where the 22-year-old aspiring special education teacher had been doing an internship, raised questions about her frequent absences.

Reger approached Truman professor Peter Kelly, asking him to have Marut produce a note from her doctor regarding the student's ability to complete her work.

Within an hour, a letter from Dr Michael Trendle printed on an official-looking letterhead from Boone Hospital Center appeared on Kelly's desk.

But instead of placating Principal Reger, the document had the opposite effect, further heightening her suspicions.



Aspiring teacher: Marut had been enrolled in the master's in education program at Truman State University when she broke the news to he professors in June about her 'cancer'

At Reger's request, Professor Kelley contacted Dr Trendle to verify Marut's story, only to discover that the note produced by the student was a fake, and that the 22-year-old had never been a patient at Boone Hospital Center or any of the local cancer treatment centers.

Happier times: This undated photo likely taken before the cancer charade shows Marut sporting long hair

On November 14, Marut was arrested and charged with felony forgery. According to Truman Police Chief Thomas Johnson, the graduate student could also be charged with stealing by deception for accepting presents and donations from friends and colleagues, including a $700 wig, according to the Heartland Connection .







According to police, Marut admitted to concocting the fake doctor's note on her computer. She also came clean about her diagnosis, saying that she doesn't have non-Hodgkins lymphoma, and that she had been shaving her head and eyebrows to convince others that she was undergoing chemotherapy.

When asked why she went to such great lengths to fake a terminal diagnosis, Marut reportedly replied that she wanted her mother to pay more attention to her.

Bogus: Marut confessed to forging a note from Dr. Michael Trendle on an official-looking letterhead from Boone Hospital Center where she had never been a patient

Marut was released on $25,000 cash bond. She is expected back in court next month for a preliminary hearing.

Her attorney, Ben Gray, said that his client is currently not taking classes at Truman. University officials said the future of Marut's master’s degree in education is up in the air pending an internal investigation.



There have been a number of highly publicized cases in recent months involving women faking cancer for material gain.

Fakers: Lori Stilley, left, was accused of pretending to have terminal bladder cancer for financial gain, while Jami Lynn Toler, right, faked breast cancer to raise money for plastic surgery



Most recently, 27-year-old Jami Lynn Toler, of Arizona, was sentenced to a year in prison and three years probation for lying about having breast cancer to raise $8,000 for plastic surgery.

