Grave Goings-On

[Anonymous]

Original article includes gnarly photos as insensitive as the act itself ...

http://www.aftenposten.no/english/local/article851013.ece

Skeletons unearthed in old town
18 Aug 2004, 16:41

On the weekend the Medieval Park in Oslo's Gamlebyen (Old City) district played host to 30,000 concert-goers dancing the days away at the annual Øya festival. On Tuesday archaeologists dug up 44 skeletons nearby - from a depth of just 40 centimeters (15.7 inches).

Archeologist Lise Marie Bye Johansen can't disguise her pleasure with the wealth of medieval material.
PHOTO: JAN TOMAS ESPEDAL


The skeletons were easily found, at a depth of only 40 cms.
PHOTO: LISE-MARIE BYE JOHANSEN


This jaw from a 4-5 year old child was a surprise in what archeologists believed was a monastery burial ground.
PHOTO: JAN TOMAS ESPEDAL


A Statsbygg (Directorate of Public Construction and Property) project to improve drainage around old Olavskirken (Olav's Church) led to a shallow ditch being dug along one wall. This was enough to unearth 44 skeletons.

Archeologists have long believed that the skeletons in this area belonged to a Dominican monastery located here from 1240 until the Reformation in 1537. The discovery of skeletons from women and young children mingled with the monk's remains came as a surprise, and it is not believed the celibate monks could somehow have had families.

"This can be the result of a mix of the churchyard and the Hallvard Cathedral's burial place, which is adjacent. Also, women may have rented a place to live here," said project leader Petter Molaug.

In the 1200s the city had about 3,000 inhabitants, and now their remains are being found, lying in neat rows all facing east - in order to be facing the right way when Jesus returned on Judgment Day.

Before the Reformation the most blessed resting spots were awarded hierarchically and could be bought. The best plots lay under the holy water that drained off the church roof and dripped onto the ground below.

The skeletons also bear witness to medieval times as an age of violence. Many of the bones reveal notches that must have resulted from brutal force. Now the remains will be studied for further clues to how they lived - diet, age span, diseases and dental health.

Archeologists believe that the old graveyard at Olavskirken may conceal 500 skeletons.

 

[Anonymous]

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2004/08/22/GREENCEMETERY.TMP

Marin cemetery doubles as native-habitat preserve
Peter Fimrite, Chronicle Staff Writer
Sunday, August 22, 2004

Marsha Goldberg has every intention of pushing up daisies when she dies. Daisies, wildflowers and a big redwood tree, too.

Goldberg is calling dibs on her choice of burial sites on a hilly, forested 32-acre stretch of land in Mill Valley, where she is making plans to become fertilizer at the country's first permanently protected cemetery, nature preserve and wildlife sanctuary.

The plan, by the new owners of the Daphne Fernwood Cemetery, off Tennessee Valley Road in unincorporated Mill Valley, is the latest manifestation of environmentally conscious Marin County's spiritual embrace of the extraordinary.

It is, in essence, a back-to-nature movement for the dead.

"There is something about being put into this natural setting that really, really appeals to me," said Goldberg of Daly City. "It's the idea of being an integrated part of nature. We take so much from the earth. To give back in a small way seems the least I could do."

The grand scheme was hatched by Billy Campbell, a physician and environmentalist, Tyler Cassity, a funeral aficionado, and Joe Sehee, an expert on socially responsible business.

Their purchase of the cemetery, which will be renamed Forever Fernwood, closed escrow Thursday. The state Department of Commerce's cemetery and funeral bureau, which licenses all private burial grounds in California, approved the transfer of title July 1.

What they plan to do is restore the native habitat of the area, establish an interpretive center and open the whole kit and caboodle up to hikers, nature lovers, schoolchildren, and even birthing and wedding ceremonies.

Traditional funerals and cremation scatterings would continue on the land, but most burials would prohibit embalming, allow only biodegradable caskets and require natural grave markers, like planted shrubs, trees or boulders.

The land would then be protected by a conservation easement, and the burial endowments would be used to maintain the park and remove eucalyptus and other nonnative species.

"It will be a nature preserve that happens to sell interment rights," Sehee said. "The concept is to sell interment rights on 5 percent of the land and use the endowment from that 5 percent to preserve the rest as open space. In essence, we will use existing cemetery law to conserve land and protect it in perpetuity with a conservation easement."

If all goes as planned, Campbell said, Daphne Fernwood would be the pilot project in a sweeping movement to protect a million acres of land over the next 30 years by turning cemeteries into open space preserves.

"We are trying to redefine what these spaces are for," Campbell said. "We want to create multiuse nature parks where people can learn about the geology, anthropology and natural history of the site in addition to learning who is buried there."

Armed with only scant information about the concept, 500 people, including Goldberg, have nonetheless put their names on a waiting list for interment in Marin County. About four dozen property owners and funeral directors from around the country have also expressed an interest in creating other nature cemeteries, Sehee said.

The idea has its roots in a burgeoning green burial movement in England, where some 150 woodland burial grounds are now in use. It is, in many ways, a rejection of a funeral industry that some feel has lost its relevance. Fewer families, especially in tough economic times, are willing to pay huge sums for a burial plot, headstone and the plush, airtight casket that is recommended.

A typical funeral in the United States now costs about ,000, and can reach ,000 or more depending on the burial location and various accoutrements, according to funeral industry experts. Americans spend billion a year in funeral costs.

And then there's the upkeep: Just keeping the lawns green can cost a cemetery as much as ,000 a month.

Green cemeteries are not only a cheap alternative, but bolster the view held by a growing number of people that, upon death, human bodies should be returned to Mother Nature.

"This is not creepy Blair Witch Project stuff," Campbell said. "It's restoring that connection between people and the land."

Campbell, 48, got the idea of a cemetery/nature preserve after his father died unexpectedly in 1985. He said the funeral was so impersonal and expensive that he began exploring alternatives.

He eventually founded Memorial Ecosystems, in Westminster, S.C., and in 1998, opened Ramsey Creek Memorial Nature Preserve, a tiny backwoods cemetery about 12 miles from the Chattooga River, where the movie "Deliverance" was filmed. The cemetery has been host to 30 green burials and has sold interment rights for about 100 more, but Campbell always had bigger plans.

It was Cassity, the president of Forever Enterprises, in Clayton, Mo., who made those plans possible.

Cassity bought Hollywood Forever Cemetery in 1998 and turned the lonely, neglected resting spot for old silver-screen stars into the kind of new age destination spot that tinsel town craves. He offered video tributes to the lives of the deceased, viewable for eternity at kiosks and on the Internet. His annual Rudolph Valentino film festival, held on the cemetery grounds where the star is buried, has become a phenomenon in Los Angeles, attracting thousands.

Cassity, an entrepreneur undertaker if there ever was one, was intrigued by the green cemetery concept and heard through the grapevine about Campbell's vision, so he called him up. The two men hit it off -- both convinced that the funeral industry had lost touch with the American public -- and agreed to join forces with Sehee, Cassity's publicist and an expert on nonprofits.

They began looking for a cemetery where they could combine their visions, bringing new life to the graveyard, so to speak.

Daphne Fernwood, with dozens of broken and weathered headstones from the late 19th century scattered on hillsides and amid the trees, seemed perfect. It is not only forested, but it borders miles of Golden Gate National Recreation Area land.

Cassity envisions a kind of virtual cemetery, with burial sites revealed only electronically or through the Internet.

"You would walk through with a handheld device, like a Palm Pilot, and, as you walked through, the device would be triggered by GPS (Global Positioning Satellite) points," said Cassity. "It's the perfect marriage of the completely natural and completely virtual so that the memorial aspect is invisible unless you choose to see it."

Marin County, the nation's unofficial capital of alternative religion, appears to be an ideal launching pad for such a project. About 80 percent of people who die in Marin are cremated, according to funeral industry experts.

Ron Hast, the editor and publisher of Mortuary Management magazine, said the soaring cremation rate is a reflection of a nationwide -- albeit less pronounced -- trend rejecting traditional religious funeral rites. Almost 48 percent of Californians and 27.78 percent of people nationwide choose cremation, both all-time highs, according to Cremation Association of America statistics.

"There is no better place to do this than Marin," Hast said. "They have a high cremation rate, a community that has plenty of money, and it is open to things that are unique."

Cassity said it is telling that only 15 percent of cremains scattered by the Neptune Society are witnessed or involve a ceremony and, often, relatives never even pick up remains from the funeral home.

"We want to encourage people to have memorial rituals or at least do something more than make a phone call and have the body disappear," he said.

During a recent hike through the cemetery property, Cassity stood on a hillside in the middle of a thicket, trees all around, and swept his arm from a stand of oaks across a valley toward nearby Mount Tamalpais.

"This is what the cemetery will look like," he said. "Like nature."

It is the kind of place that Goldberg wants to be, forever. She isn't dying but likes the idea so much that she is almost looking forward to the day.

"I always wanted to be buried wrapped only in a shroud under a redwood tree," said Goldberg, who would not reveal her age, but believes she is old enough to begin contemplating her mortality. "I told them I want to be first on the list."

 

[Mighty_Emperor]

Satanists desecrate cemetery

From correspondents in Belgrade
August 29, 2004


VANDALS who authorities said belonged to a sect of Satanists desecrated about 30 graves at a Serbian Orthodox cemetery in central Serbia, the Glas Javnosti daily reported today.

Gravestones and crosses as well as several graveside statues were smashed and uprooted before dawn yesterday at the cemetery in Kragujevac, a town 90km south-east of Belgrade, the newspaper said.

The crosses were dug out and left scattered near the graves or stuck into the ground upside down in what investigative judge Zoran Arsenijevic told reporters was an apparent "Satanic ritual."

"We also discovered Satanic symbols and signs painted all over the place," the newspaper quoted Mr Arsenijevic as saying.

The police said an "intense investigation" had been launched.

It was the second incident of vandalism attributed to Satanism this month at the Kragujevac cemetery.

http://www.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,10608430%5E1702,00.html

 

[Mighty_Emperor]

I'm not really going to claim I undertsand what this is all about:

September 09, 2004 21:22 PM

"Supernatural" Graves Torn Down In Banting


BANTING, Sept 9 (Bernama) -- Thirteen "supernatural" graves on a plot of land in Kampung Permatang Pasir, Bukit Jugra, here, were destroyed Thursday in efforts to put an end to deviationist Islamic teaching in the area.

Erected on reserve land belonging to the Selangor government, the graves were empty with one major gravestone covered by a tent of yellow cloth.

Known as "Makam di Raja Berayun" or "Wak Kantong", the site has been so popular with local and outstation visitors seeking four-digit numbers, cures for various ailments and the fulfilment of wishes in the past year that worshippers even have to get queue numbers.

State executive councillor for Islamic affairs, Datuk Abdul Rahman Palil, who led the three-hour operation, said the government would not compromise with those involved in wrongful teachings as Muslims could be led astray.

He said those involved in such activities could be charged under Section 13 of the Selangor Syariah Crime Enactment 1995 which provides a maximum fine of RM3,000 or two years' imprisonment.

Abdul Rahman was accompanied by officers from the Selangor Religious Department (JAIS), Kuala Langat District Council and Kuala Langat District office.

Aside from the empty graves, there is also a pond where visitors could perform their ablutions.

Abdul Rahman said worshipping activities at the site were crippled after JAIS conducted a raid there recently following more than a month of surveillance.

He said the people found involved in the activities were undergoing counselling.

http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v3/news_lite.php?id=91524

Empty graves? Four figure numbers? Deviationist Islamic teaching?

 

[Mighty_Emperor]

If this is really animal rights activists then this is pretty outrageous (OK its pretty outrageous anyway but....):

Desecration of grave claimed as victory for animal rights

By Jonathan Brown

12 October 2004

The theft of a grandmother's remains from a grave in a country churchyard in Staffordshire was claimed by extremists yesterday as a victory in the global campaign for animal rights.

The Florida-based website of the direct action magazine Bite Back hailed the removal of 82-year-old Gladys Hammond's coffin as a successful "sabotage" operation. Bearing the slogan "more than one action a day, every day" the site listed the exhumation alongside other strikes in recent weeks. These included a paint stripper attack on a German businessman's home in Dusseldorf, the "liberation" of mice from a laboratory in Russia and the defacing of billboards at a greyhound stadium in Ireland.

Police believe the reason Mrs Hammond, who died in 1997, was targeted was because she was the mother-in-law of one of two brothers who run Darley Oaks Farm in Newchurch, Staffordshire, where guinea pigs are bred for medical research. Campaigners claim the animals are kept in appalling conditions at three locations in the villages of Newborough and Newchurch, allegations the family denies.

The farm has found itself at the centre of an increasingly pernicious protest thought to be conducted by members of the Animal Liberation Front. Not only have the farm's owners, David Hall and his two sons Chris and John, been targeted, but the entire village in which they live has come under attack.

Regarded by the Home Office as the most extreme campaign of its kind, the Halls and their friends and neighbours have been subjected to personal threats, attacks on their property and smear campaigns.

A 70-year-old woman had the windows of her home broken; the landlord of a local pub was threatened with arson after refusing demands to ban the brothers; veterinary staff, the village hotel, and local solicitors have all been warned not to have anything to do with the Halls, and the greens of the brothers' golf club were dug up after anonymous threats were received.

Mrs Hammond's son-in-law, Chris Hall, described the family's disbelief yesterday saying the five-year campaign against them had plumbed new depths. "We are devastated and disgusted by this barbaric criminal act. There cannot be many people who would stoop to this terrible atrocity."

To make matters worse, said Mr Hall, demonstrators turned up outside their home on Sunday to "chant verbal abuse" at them - part of a continuing "peaceful" protest. "It shows the kind of people they are. It shows what sort of world we are forced to live in," he said.

The protesters were ordered to disperse by police, whose efforts to protect the family and local interests have cost the Staffordshire force a total of £500,000.

Police believe it would have taken at least two people up to four hours to dig up the grave at St Peter's Church, Yoxall, sometime between last Tuesday night and Wednesday morning.

Detective Chief Inspector Nicholas Baker told a press conference yesterday that "most of the remains" of the "much-loved lady" were missing. "This incident has gone far beyond anybody's understanding of what constitutes a protest. It's difficult to find words to describe what's taken place ... it's beyond anyone's understanding of morality and decency."

Sarah Dixon of Save Newchurch Guinea Pigs, which has been campaigning against the farm, said she could not condone the "horrendous" incident but insisted the peaceful protests would go on. "This incident ... is nothing to do with our group and we have no knowledge as to who is responsible. As far as we are aware the police have said animal rights is only one avenue of investigation they are taking. It hasn't been established this is down to animal rights activists," she said.

The extreme actions of animal rights militants have proved increasingly effective. Campaigners have halted a project to build a primate research centre at Cambridge because of the excessive costs of protecting staff, while plans to build an animal laboratory at Oxford have been seriously delayed.

The desecration of the grave has caused disgust in the Church of England. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, wrote a letter of support to Rev Jenny Lister, the rector of Yoxall who conducted Mrs Hammond's funeral service. She said prayers for the family on Sunday. The Archdeacon of Lichfield, the Ven Chris Liley, said the attackers had "violated a place of peace".

http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/crime/story.jsp?story=571232

Animal Extremists blamed for grave robbery of woman's body

By Nick Britten
(Filed: 12/10/2004)

People who desecrated the grave of an 82-year-old woman in what is believed to be an animal rights protest also stole most of her corpse.

It was thought at first that the body of Gladys Hammond had been dug up and tampered with. But detectives disclosed that many bones had been removed.

Witnesses saw two men acting suspiciously around the grave at St Peter's Church in Yoxall, Staffs, on Wednesday.

Mrs Hammond, who died seven years ago, is the mother-in-law of Chris Hall, who with his brothers, John and David, owns a nearby guinea pig farm, providing the animals for medical research.

One of the farm's biggest customers is said to be the controversial Huntingdon Life Sciences laboratory in Cambridgeshire.

For five years members of staff at Darley Oaks Farm in Newchurch have been the target of a sustained campaign of harassment and intimidation by animal rights campaigners who want to force the business to close. They have received death threats and hate mail, had their property vandalised and malicious rumours spread about them.

Det Chief Insp Nick Baker declined to comment on which bones had been taken and urged those responsible "to examine their consciences" and come forward.

Officers believe that two men spent about four hours desecrating the grave between Tuesday night and Wednesday morning.

Mr Baker said: "Over the weekend we completed our forensic analysis of the scene and we can confirm that most of the remains of Gladys Hammond are missing. We have found nothing during a search of the area and can only assume that the body parts have been taken away.

"This has been totally shocking for the police, church-goers, the parishioners who made the discovery and everybody in Yoxall.

"We appeal to whoever is responsible to examine their consciences and come forward to put the minds of the family at rest."

Relatives of Mrs Hammond issued a statement condemning the attack as "callous and sick". It said: "The family is devastated that the grave of a very much loved mother and grandmother has been violated in this way.

"She was devoted to her family and fortunately she did not have to experience in her lifetime the distress we as a family have suffered in recent years at the hands of animal rights extremists."

In a floral tribute laid on the grave, the family attached a note saying: "May God forgive these evil people for what they have done."

A spokesman for the farm said the family was "distraught" at the latest development. She added: "How somebody can do something like this just beggars belief."

The main protest group, Save the Newchurch Guinea Pigs, denied any knowledge of the attack and described it as "sick and horrendous".

Church officials said the Bishop of Wolverhampton, the Rt Rev Michael Bourke, and the Rev Jenny Lister, the rector of Yoxall, would hold a service to rededicate the churchyard as a place of peace after the police investigation ended.

Prayers were said for Mrs Hammond at St Peter's Church on Sunday. The rector told the congregation before opening the morning service that she had received a letter of sympathy from the Archbishop of Canterbury's office.

Source

 

[escargot]

I heard about the guinea pig farm village on R4's 'You and Yours' a few months ago. In that report, the names of the village, farm and possibly (can't remember) the family involved were omitted for reasons of security.

So now we know it's David Hall and his two sons Chris and John of Darley Oaks Farm in Newchurch, Staffordshire.

It's probably better to be open about the harrassment as it's apparently being done by a small but determind group, rather than by random passing activists who pop in for a bit of chanting now and then.

It's not as if the location is a secret any more.

 

[Anonymous]

This lovely story of "grave disturbance" was reported over the last few days. It appears to be linked to a long term campaign against a family in Newborough who breed guinea pigs for medical research. The grave of a family member who died seven years ago has been dug up and the body taken - this report in The Independant quotes local rumours that the coffin was delivered to the farm minus the remains.

http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/this_britain/story.jsp?story=571583

 

[Mighty_Emperor]

THIEVES 'FED DEAD OAP TO GUINEA PIGS'

Oct 12 2004

A WOMAN'S remains which were stolen from her grave may have been fed to guinea pigs by animal rights activists, it was claimed yesterday.

Police believe two people spent more than four hours digging up the body of Gladys Hammond, whose son-in-law breeds the animal s for medical research.

And last night, there was speculation that fanatics from the Animal Liberation Front may have been responsible and taken the outrage even further.

A source with links to the ALF said: 'There are no lengths that these people will not go to and feeding this poor woman to the guinea pigs is the sort of irony they would like.'

Detective Chief Inspector Nick Baker, heading the inquiry, refused to say which parts of the body had been had been taken during last Wednesday's raid on the grave in the cemetery of St Peter's Church in the village of Yoxall, Staffordshire.

Mrs Hammond, who died aged 82 in 1997, was the mother-in-law of Chris Hall who breeds guinea pigs at a farm in nearby Newchurch.

Source

I just hope the guinea pigs would have better taste (I've yet to hear a headline "man savaged by pack of guinea pigs" so perhaps their taste for human flesh isn't too strong ). It also seems like wild speculation to me.

 

[escargot]

Fed the human remains to guinea pigs? What a pack of cr*p.
There's not the slightest evidence that this was done.
It would be harmful to the GPs anyway so even the ALF wouldn't do it.

There's been an arrest, I've just heard on t'wireless.

 

[Mighty_Emperor]

There's been an arrest, I've just heard on t'wireless.

Yep:

Two men arrested over grave desecration

Thu 14 October, 2004 09:37

LONDON (Reuters) - Two men have been arrested in connection with the desecration of a grandmother's grave which police believe may be linked to animal rights protesters.

The grave of Gladys Hammond, who died seven years ago aged 82, was dug up and her remains taken away some time in the past few days at St Peter's church in Staffordshire.

She was related to a family who run a farm where guinea pigs are bred for sale to researchers.

Police said they had carried out an early morning raid on addresses in the West Midlands.

"Warrants were executed in Wolverhampton and Coventry at around 6:30 a.m, resulting in the arrest of a 41-year-old man in Coventry and a 34-year-old man in Wolverhampton," Staffordshire Police said in a statement on Thursday.

"Officers are conducting searches and forensic tests at the addresses."

The operation involved officers from Staffordshire Police's environmental protests unit, as well as the force's major investigations department and West Midlands police.

Police said on Tuesday they were checking whether animal rights protesters were to blame for the desecration.

The Hall family at Darley Oaks farm have been the subject of one of the most sustained cases of abuse by animal rights protesters. Activists have threatened not only family members over the past five years but the entire village of Newchurch in which the farm is based.

http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackageArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=602901&section=news

Two held after grave desecration

Two men have been arrested over the theft of an 82-year-old woman's body from a graveyard, detectives have said.

The remains of Gladys Hammond, whose son-in-law helps to run a farm breeding guinea pigs for medical research, were dug up in Yoxall, near Lichfield.

The Coventry Animal Alliance claims that animal rights protester John Curtin, 41, was arrested at his home in the Hillfields area of the city.

Police said the arrests were made in Wolverhampton and Coventry.

Hate mail

Mrs Hammond's body was removed from her burial plot at St Peter's Church last week and Staffordshire Police said they have not recovered her remains.

It is thought that at least two people were involved in digging up the grave of Mrs Hammond, whose family have repeatedly been targeted by animal rights extremists.

Staffordshire Police said a 41-year-old man in Coventry and a 34-year-old man in Wolverhampton were arrested on Thursday morning.

Animal Alliance member Nancy Phipps, whose daughter Jill was crushed to death under a lorry during a protest at Coventry Airport in 1995, said Mr Curtin had been arrested at his home in Adelaide Street.

Mrs Phipps said: "John's door was knocked down this morning despite the fact he has had nothing to do with the Newchurch protest. The police are just on a fishing trip.

"John is well known in the movement and he's a campaigner and a good speaker. He has converted to Buddhism and he's a gentle person."

A police spokesman said: "In a pre-planned operation between Staffordshire Police and West Midlands Police this morning, officers have arrested two men.

"The men were taken to police stations in Staffordshire, where they will be interviewed.

"Officers are currently conducting searches and forensic tests at the addresses."

Mrs Hammond, who died in 1997, was the mother-in-law of Chris Hall, one of two brothers who run Darley Oaks Farm in Newchurch, Staffordshire.

The campaign against the Hall family by animal rights activists has included hate mail, malicious phone calls, hoax bombs, a paedophile smear campaign and arson attacks.

The arrest operation involved officers from Staffordshire Police's environmental protests unit, as well as the force's major investigations department and West Midlands police.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/uk_news/england/staffordshire/3741940.stm

Published: 2004/10/14 15:37:29 GMT

© BBC MMIV

There are reports that a large container full of fat guinea pigs has also been recovered. Possibly.

 

[Anonymous]

Eeewwww ... what a discomforting read this thread has been, especially at 4.30 a.m. Has convinced me more than ever that cremation's the way for me.

Graveyards I find quite interesting, but at the same time, I sometimes ponder the fact that all around the world, beneath gardens, buildings, streets and parks, lie countless bodies. By this time, the planet must be packed with them. Sort of horrible.
Burial is horrible; all those bodies in various stages of decomposition just lying there, under the ground. And, as the stories in this thread testify, even a hundred years after burial, your head's likely to be tossed around by school-kids. This bloody planet --- literally. Ick, Yuk ... experiencing that 'someone just walked over my grave' sensation. My toes are curling up.

Few years ago I worked in an office above a funeral parlour. Very attractive on the street-front but a walk down the hall and down the back stairs brought you out at the business-end; hearses being polished; long rubber gloves and wellingtons hanging on hooks and in hot weather, the embalmers left the doors open for a bit of fresh air as they went about their business. Even when trying not to be affected by this practical reminder of what lies down the track for all of us, I nevertheless found myself adopting a very sprightly manner; denial, obviously.

Same funeral parlour was featured in the local paper recently. They buried the wrong body and tried to cover it up. Apparently they'd cremated (instead of burying) a gentleman. The cover up consisted of placing bricks in the coffin of the elderly woman they attempted to bury in his place. Amazingly, despite the media exposure, they're still in business and doing as well as ever. Don't know how the man's relatives learned of the ruse; possibly some of the bricks shifted as they were hoisting the coffin on their shoulders. Bit of argy bargy and the coffin was discovered to contain a skinny old lady .... and the cloth-wrapped bricks. Don't know how the mess was sorted; the man had been cremated a day or so earlier in place of the old lady. Maybe they compromised by retrieving his ashes and burying them instead. Old lady was despatched to the crematorium as originally intended.

Had a disturbing experience while I worked above the funeral-parlour. Reached my office via stairs and hallway and never gave it a moment's thought. But one day, my boss phoned to say he'd purchased several dozen old computers from somewhere. Asked me to go downstairs and obtain the key to an unused room in the building; apparently he'd arranged a short-term lease on the room to store the computers. The estate agent gave me the key and came with me to show me the room, which was situated to one side of the main staircase. I'd never noticed it before, despite passing it daily. He opened the door and turned on the light, without stepping into the room, then gestured for me to peek inside. Ghastly. Weirdest room I've ever seen. The floor was at least a metre and a half below the level of the door, and on one side was half a staircase; it just emerged from the floor and went nowhere. I'm not likely to forget that room; it was 'thick' with presences. The most miserable, horrid atmosphere just hung there, floor to ceiling ... and it was seething with unseen people, who seemed to be staring miserably. Room had no windows. When the lights are turned off it must just sit there, pitch black, filled with invisible, hopeless miserable 'things'. I later realized it is situated directly above the room where the morticians prepare the bodies. Wish I'd never seen it.

My grandfather and uncle were undertakers. I never saw them at their work, but there are a few old family-stories which are retold every now and then about the odd performances of dead bodies, and the occasional comical goings-on which occur, even in the most sober, old fashioned undertaking businesses. Wish I could arrange to disappear in a puff of smoke at the exact moment of death. In a well-planned world, that's the way it would be. Wonder why god didn't arrange that, instead of necessitating the cleaning-up and disposal of basically large, soon-putrid corpses, several hundred thousand times (?) each day? God isn't a woman, obviously.

 

[Kondoru]

Youll have to befrend a flock of vultures.

or get buried at sea.

I plan on being buried in my garden. That way I can take it with me and annoy the people who come after.

 

[Mighty_Emperor]

This is quite good news because we all know what happens when you build stuff on native graveyards (I'm thinking of setting up camp opposite and waiting for the fireworks or portals from Hell or something):

Wal-Mart opens in Hawaii amid protest

Thursday, October 14, 2004 Posted: 1319 GMT (2119 HKT)



HONOLULU, Hawaii (AP) -- Wal-Mart opened a store in Hawaii on Wednesday with hundreds of eager shoppers rushing past a handful of protesters who accuse the giant retailer of desecrating ancient gravesites.

Customers lined up hours ahead and then poured into the discount store after a traditional Hawaiian blessing and the untying of a lei at the main doors.

Native Hawaiian groups had tried to stop the opening until 44 remains of Hawaiians unearthed during construction could be reburied at the Wal-Mart site.

"Wal-Mart's pitch is that it's slashing prices for you. In this instance, it's slashing graves," said Moses Haia, a Native Hawaiian Legal Corp. lawyer who has filed a suit against the store.

Wal-Mart spokeswoman Cynthia Lin said the retailer is treating the Hawaiian remains with respect, placing them "in an air-conditioned, darkened trailer in a secure location on the site." State approval is needed to rebury them on the site, she said.

Wal-Mart's seventh -- and largest -- store on the islands employs 800 people, bringing the total to 4,400 in Hawaii. The site also has a Sam's Club members-only outlet scheduled to open next week.

http://edition.cnn.com/2004/US/10/14/hawaii.walmart.ap/index.html

 

[Mighty_Emperor]

Prairie Dogs Move Into Cemetery, Bones Move Out


Oct 18, 10:09 AM (ET)

SANTA FE, N.M. (Reuters) - A happy colony of New Mexico prairie dogs hit pay dirt in a cemetery full of historic skeletons, causing grief for town officials who want to protect the final resting place of the state's notables.

Prairie dogs are gnawing their way through skeletons in a historic cemetery in Sante Fe that houses the remains of three New Mexico governors, 10 mayors and other notables. They are leaving mounds of dirt mixed with human bones in a four-acre (1.6-hectare) lot in the heart of the city.

"It's a catastrophe," Erik Mason, president of the Fairview Cemetery Preservation Association, which runs the facility, said on Friday. "I would love to take them out one by one but you can't fire a rifle in the city limits."

The city requires a humane relocation of prairie dogs, but the preservation association does not have enough money to move the large colony.

Mason said he tried different strategies to get rid of the prairie dog invasion, including putting dry ice down the holes and plugging them with newspaper.

"Nothing worked," he said.

The cute critters called prairie dogs are not dogs, but rodents, sold in many places as pets. They typically live in a family group and adults stand between 12 inches and 15 inches.

Source

 

[Mighty_Emperor]

Woman Allegedly Steals Boyfriend's Ashes


Oct 28, 7:14 PM (ET)

PORTAGE, Wis. (AP) - Sheriff's deputies have arrested a woman for digging up her dead boyfriend's ashes from a Columbia County cemetery more than 10 years ago and drinking the beer that was buried with him, possibly out of spite for his family.

Karen Stolzmann, now 44, was arrested Tuesday in a case Columbia County Detective Wayne Smith calls "twisted and bizarre."

Sheboygan County District Attorney Joe De Cecco said Thursday he would likely determine this week if possession charges should be filed in his county since the urn was found at Stolzmann's Sheboygan home. A call to the Columbia County district attorney's office was not immediately returned Thursday.

Stolzmann has already been charged with a misdemeanor count of concealing stolen property.

Michael Hendrickson, 27, died in 1992 from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. His family contacted authorities three weeks ago because they found out his remains had been stolen.

An exhumation revealed Hendrickson's cremated remains were missing from Cambria Cemetery in Cambria. Beer and cigarettes that were buried with him were also missing.

Sheriff's deputies investigated and were led to Stolzmann. Detectives searched her home and found her hiding in the shower.

The remains, located in her garage, had "identifiable things to make us believe they're (Hendrickson's)," Smith said.

Some of Hendrickson's memorabilia was also recovered, but Smith believes Stolzmann drank the beer buried with the remains.

Stolzmann was arrested Tuesday night and later released, with a Nov. 15 return date.

Detective Jay Yerges said Stolzmann and Hendrickson were living together in the early 1990s, both married to other people. The relationship was stormy, with a pattern of alcohol and domestic abuse, Yerges said.

Stolzmann was present when Hendrickson shot himself in January 1992. Yerges said Hendrickson's family blamed her for his death and she was not invited to his services.

"I feel that her motive was spite," Yerges said. "If she has the cremains, that's her control over (Hendrickson's) family."

Hendrickson's family, who live in Cleveland, Wis., declined comment, but Smith said they were happy to hear the remains were found.

Robbing graves is a felony offense, but authorities say the six-year statute of limitations has passed for prosecution.

But there may be a way to prosecute because no one knew the remains were missing until now, he said.

Until prosecutors decide on other charges, Hendrickson's remains will stay in evidence.

http://apnews.excite.com/article/20041028/D860NQGG0.html

 

[Leaferne]

A grave digger tells the truth about six feet under

By Dawn Cuthbertson

Thursday, October 28, 2004 - 07:00

Local News - Gavin Greig knows why people avoid his cemetery and hold their breath when they drive by – especially on the days leading up to Halloween.

Horror novels and slasher films, with dark and frightening portrayals, have been scaring North Americans out of cemeteries for generations.

Seldom are cemeteries portrayed as peaceful and serene places of lush grass, trees and rolling terrain, said Greig, 41, a grounds foreman at the Cataraqui Cemetery in Kingston.

“After you’ve worked in a cemetery for a while, you realize there’s nothing creepy about it. It’s actually quite beautiful.”

Pop culture plays a part, said Greig, but it’s a fear of death and the unknown that scares people away from graveyards.

“People have a lot of ideas about death. I don’t live my life worrying about when it’s going to be over.”

Greig started his career as a grave digger for the cemetery 11 years ago.

A seasonal construction worker with a young family, Greig said he applied for the job to earn extra money during the winter months.

“I was not one of those people interested in sitting around all winter. It was supposed to be temporary.”

Despite Hollywood movies characterizing grave diggers as shovel-wielding monsters, Greig, dressed in a blue flannel shirt, mud-spotted pants and sporting a full beard, said his workers have been using back hoes to do the job since the late 80s and are respectful of the deceased.

“We try to keep them nice, square and tidy,” he said, adding diggers also weed, rake leaves, remove snow, prune trees and plant flowers.

As for the phrase ‘six feet under,’ there is some truth to it due to the width of caskets and a provincial law requiring at least two feet of earth on top, said Greig.

“It works out pretty close.”

The Cataraqui Cemetery has been the final resting place for more than 43,000 Kingstonians since it opened in 1850. The oldest tombstone, currently under restoration, dates back to 1793.

Grave digging is not for everyone, said Greig, recalling one worker quitting on his first day.

“He ran right through the gates and never came back. He was a little spooked.”

Glenn McCullough, a 29-year employee of the cemetery, said he could sympathize with the rookie digger. Shivers went down his spine the first time he was lowered into a grave.

“I was a little worried about going down. I was scared. Now I’m used to it.”

Greig laughed, recalling the day a half-bottle of Jack Daniel’s whisky suddenly appeared when he and McCullough were lowering a casket into a grave.

“We don’t know whether it was in the casket ... or whether the old grave digger way back then was having a little start and buried the evidence.”

Although respect for family requests is a priority, diggers prefer waiting until all relatives and friends have left the site because there is a risk of a grave caving in or water pooling at the bottom.

“There can be things down there that aren’t pretty. There’s nothing nice about a grave.”

There is no way to anticipate how many graves will be dug each week, said Greig. While only two requests may come in over the course of a week, there are days when diggers are clearing earth for seven or eight caskets.

“When you have days where you’re really thumping them in, the guys really have to work for their money.”

No one has ever seen a ghost or apparition haunting the grounds on Halloween but there have been several humorous incidents involving thrill-seeking children, said Greig.

One case involved a teenager falling into an open grave 30 years ago after being chased by security guards. Another child fell victim to his own fears and drove his bicycle straight into the cemetery’s pond.

Extra security is hired a few days before Halloween to be on the look out for unwanted activity.

Perhaps the strangest Halloween story occurred a few years ago when a young couple requested to be married above a loved one’s grave, said Greig.

“It was really just a regular wedding. It just happened to be on top of someone’s grave.”

The cemetery doesn’t celebrate Halloween but family members have been known to decorate graves with pumpkins or skeletons.

There is an increase in curious adults wandering around close to midnight on Halloween but so far, no one has been caught performing Satanic rituals and no headstones have been vandalized, said manager Gordon Raymo.

Only the sounds and calls of the cemetery’s resident wildlife – including coyotes, deer, foxes, owls, hawks and rabbits – are capable of spooking staff members, said Raymo.

“You can hear some real hair-raising screams. You’d swear somebody was getting hurt.”

Raymo said he may set up displays on Halloween next year and invite Kingstonians to the grounds “to take the taboo out of cemeteries.”

Working in a cemetery doesn’t make it any easier when a family member passes away, said Greig, who’s father-in-law died last year and is buried there.

While most families like to keep the wording on headstones discreet, Greig said he appreciates the humour of one marker that reads: ‘I told you I was sick.’ ”

“It’s just slays me,” said Greig with a smile.

 

[Mighty_Emperor]

Hitch-hikers forced to dig up coffin

Sat Dec 4, 2004 01:05 PM GMT


HARARE (Reuters) - A group of late night Zimbabwean hitch-hikers had a shock when they were driven to a cemetery and forced to dig up a coffin at gunpoint.

The three men in a truck who offered the 20 hitch-hikers a lift to Chitungwiza, a township outside Harare, instead sped to a graveyard, gave them picks and shovels and forced them to open a grave, the Herald newspaper reported on Saturday.

The reluctant grave robbers then had to tip the human remains back into the pit and hand the empty coffin to the gangsters, who drove off into the night, leaving them stranded.

Stealing coffins from graves for resale is on the increase in Zimbabwe because the AIDS pandemic has increased demand, and the economic crisis means many people cannot afford to buy them legally.

----------------------
© Reuters 2004. All Rights Reserved.

Source

 

[Timble2]

Even in death you can have a designer label. (But It won't make you any less dead)

At: http://www.guardian.co.uk/arts/news/sto ... 29,00.html

America's dead rich buy a tomb with a view

Peter Beaumont
Sunday December 5, 2004
The Observer

Wealthy Americans seeking immortality now have the option of being reincarnated as a work of art.
For the sum of $300,000, aficionados of the great American architect and designer Frank Lloyd Wright can be buried in one of the last of his works to be completed: the Blue Sky Mausoleum at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Buffalo, New York.

Designed 76 years ago and finally built 45 years after Wright's death, the mausoleum - which has 24 two-coffin crypts - represents either the ultimate transaction of style with the hereafter, or a supreme act of vanity.

The first crypt has been sold and negotiations are understood to be under way on others. Built on a gentle, tree-lined slope, the mausoleum features twin rows of 12 granite slabs that climb the lawn to meet on either side of a monolith.

Recalling the layered slabs of his prairie-style houses, the mausoleum is inscribed with a Wright quote expressing his intention for a 'burial facing the open sky'.

Opened to the public on a grey afternoon, the $1.2 million structure has already attracted sniffy remarks from architectural purists and guardians of the Wright legacy.

'This has been simplified from Wright's design, and it takes away some of the characteristics of the angular effects,' William Allin Storrer, author of the Wright companion, told The New Republic .

'You either build on the site, as the plans show, or forget calling it a Frank Lloyd Wright.'

Civic leaders have never hidden the fact that they regard the mausoleum as being as much about attracting tourists to Buffalo as commemoration. 'We have the opportunity to establish ourselves as a national destination for people who care about architecture,' said Assembly member Sam Hoyt at the opening.

 

[TheQuixote]

Sheep cleared of cemetery crime

A pet sheep which was blamed for eating flowers on graves at a cemetery has been cleared of the crime.

Officials received complaints about graves being desecrated at the Horns Road cemetery in Stroud.

[...]

But Colin has now has been exonerated after two wild deer were spotted eating the flowers.

Stroud Town Council decided Ms Deburiatte was acting in an anti-social way by letting her pet devour the flowers.

[...]

Colin Peake, Anti-Social Behaviour Co-ordinator for Stroud, warned Ms Deburiatte in November that the animal was banned from the cemetery and must also be kept on a lead.

[...]

Mr Peake said: "I feel proud to be able to exonerate Colin from these crimes.

"It appears that the wild deer had wandered off from their usual habitat to find some easy pickings."


Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/e ... 076541.stm
Published: 2004/12/07 17:27:31 GMT

© BBC MMIV

 

[TheQuixote]

Muslims mourn loved ones online
By Anwar ul-Hasan
BBC Urdu Online

"Our graveyard is so pretty that it is to die for," said Syed Mohammed Alam Zaidi, caretaker of the Wadi-a-Hussain cemetery near the southern Pakistani city of Karachi.

"It sprawls an area of 12 acres, and we have capacity for 57,000 graves which is enough for the next 100 years."

But this final resting place has more than just beautiful facilities and lots of space to offer.

It also provides an interactive website - the first in Pakistan - enabling a mourner to attend the funeral of a loved one virtually. Live or recorded video streaming can be accessed using an internet terminal anywhere in the world.

The wonders of modern technology allow friends and families not able to visit the graveyard in person the opportunity to see this otherwise typical Muslim cemetery, with its rose petals, incense sticks and candles.

[...]

The technology does not stop at funerals via video streaming. The interactive website has a grave search engine, where it is possible to find graves by name or allotment number.

Once the search is done, a mourner can have all the details of the deceased including a picture of the grave.

"And then", says Mr Zaidi the caretaker, "one can offer 'Fateha' - a religious offering usually read in front of the grave."

The virtual cemetery idea was developed in 1999 with the financial support of two brothers, Shaikh Sakhawat Ali and Shaikh Yawar Ali. Now this facility is managed by a trust.

[...]

Despite all the latest facilities, the price for an individual grave at Wadi-a-Hussain is competitive at around $75 (5,000 rupees). This price includes glazed tiles and an epitaph with writing.

For about $20 more, it is possible to access web video streaming on demand.

"Yesterday's science fiction is today's everyday practice," said Ghayyas Uddin Siddiqi, chairman of the Muslim Parliament of Britain. "We have learnt this much from history.


Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/w ... 072449.stm
Published: 2004/12/08 01:31:57 GMT

© BBC MMIV

 

[Yithian]

Burial plot occupied by stranger

A woman from Essex is desperately trying to trace the relatives of a stranger who was mistakenly buried in a grave with her mother.

The error means there is no room for other family members, including a man who died last week.

Barbara Wilson, of Maldon, was hoping to bury her brother Robert in the family plot at Luton Church Cemetery in Beds, only to find it occupied.

The blunder - and burial - apparently took place more than 30 years ago.

But the mixup but only came to light when Mrs Wilson tried to make funeral arrangements for her brother and discovered that a man named John Porter had already been interred at the gravesite.

She said: "I am really upset and quite often just burst into tears.

"I had the option of cremating my brother or putting him in a grave somewhere else or in the same cemetery - or the other option was to have him stored until the problem could be solved.

"We cannot afford to do that, so we have opted to cremate him, which was against our wishes."

The Reverend Canon Nick Bell, chairman of the cemetery's trustees, said: "We sympathise with Mrs Wilson and are taking all possible steps, legally, pastorally and practically to try to resolve this situation."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/essex/4080425.stm

 

[Mighty_Emperor]

Mysterious objects turn up in Bluffton cemetery

BY TRAVIS LOLLER, The Island Packet
Published Monday, January 3rd, 2005

BLUFFTON -- A couple of months ago, Tommy Walker started finding strange objects at the Bluffton Cemetery.

Pennies were scattered about on top of the graves of some of his family members, as well as nearby graves. Along with the pennies he found candles, surgical gloves, a bottle of gray powder and photographs with people cut from the pictures.

At the foot of his mother's grave he found an onion that had been split in half, tied in a black ribbon and buried.

Walker has no explanation for what he has found in the May River Road graveyard and said he saw no rhyme nor reason to which graves were chosen.

"There was stuff on a baby's grave, an old grave, my mother's grave," he said.

Occult incidents in cemeteries are nothing new in the Lowcountry. One of the most famous incidents occurred in 1979 when a corpse in the Rhett Cemetery in Burton was dug up and beheaded. Hex dolls and ribbon-covered corncobs hung from the tree limbs all around.

Martin Sauls III, owner of Sauls Funeral Home and the Lowcountry Memorial Gardens on Simmonsville Road, as well as the Ridgeland Cemetery, said he has seen a lot of voodoo-like objects strewn throughout his two cemeteries over the years, including chicken bones wrapped in black ribbon.

His father used to take phone calls for the local "root doctor," someone whom residents would pay to cast spells, he said, because "we had a telephone, and Daddy and the doctor were close. They were friends."

When a person had been murdered, he said, the family would sometimes ask to have a black hen placed in the casket and buried with the victim. The idea was that the murderer would die with the hen.

Sauls said people used to ask him to "take the root off of them" because he had a reputation as someone who could remove curses.

But the objects that Walker found in Bluffton seem to have been left in the cemetery, not by a Lowcountry root doctor, but by Latinos. In one picture, the people still visible are Latinos. Also, Walker found bits of paper torn from envelopes of supposedly magical powders that are for sale in some Latino grocery stores.

One scrap read "vete lejos," or "get away," and a second read "odio," or "hatred."

Eric Esquivel, publisher of the Hilton Head Island Spanish-language monthly magazine La Isla, said that a majority of the area's Latino population is from Mexico, where many people, especially those from rural areas, practice a Catholicism that is mixed with the spiritual beliefs held by the indigenous culture since before Christopher Columbus reached the Americas.

"There's almost a duality," he said. "They are Christians, but they retain some of the indigenous beliefs."

Sauls said there are some Latinos buried in his cemeteries, but he was not sure whether any of the voodoo objects he has found were left by Latinos.

Walker said objects appeared in the Bluffton Cemetery on a regular basis for a while, but since he and some friends started stopping by the cemetery in the wee hours of the morning to shine their headlights around, the strange objects have been fewer in number.

"They haven't really hurt anything," Walker said of whoever placed the objects there. But recalling the incident of the corpse that was beheaded, he added, "you never can tell what might happen."

Source

 

[TheQuixote]

Rare pen identifies WWI soldier

A researcher has identified a World War I soldier by a rare fountain pen discovered by his body.
Peter Last, from Great Wakering in South Essex, discovered through the pen, which was issued by a Post Office newsletter, the soldier was a postman.

Lance Corporal John Brown died in 1915, but only now has he received a full military burial.

Mr Last said he was glad his efforts were a success for the sake of Mr Brown's relatives.

Clues in newsletter

John Brown's and other soldiers' bodies were discovered in France after some road widening operations, he said.

Mr Last said: "I have some friends in France and they emailed me photographs of the bodies.

Thanks to a rare fountain pen, the man's family will now be able to visit his grave
Peter Last

"I wrote a small article on it and then thought of contacting the head Post Office in London; they've got a wonderful archive section," he added.

The Post Office dug up old issues of the Postman's Federation, an employee newsletter, and compared the published names of those killed or wounded with those of Mr Last.

They discovered that John Brown appeared on both lists.

"Thanks to a rare fountain pen, the man's family will now be able to visit his grave," Mr Last said.

"If the soldier had not been identified, he would have been buried the same way as the other soldiers... as an anonymous grave," he added.

Mr Last is chairman of the Southend branch of The Western Front Association, a military research organisation based in Buckinghamshire.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/e ... 182213.stm
Published: 2005/01/17 18:40:03 GMT

© BBC MMV

 

[Mighty_Emperor]

Wednesday, January 19, 2005

Gothic Grave Robbers Busted in New Iberia



NEW IBERIA, La. (KATC) — Three teenagers described as involved in the "Gothic movement" face burglary charges for stealing a headstone and human remains from a grave, authorities said.

The teens told investigators "possession of human remains is a part of their beliefs" and they did not intend to damage them, according to a statement from Iberia Parish Sheriff Sid Hebert.

Deputies found the remains and headstone under the porch of the home owned by the father of suspect Jobe J. Wright. Wright and the other teens, all 17, were arrested Sunday, the sheriff's office said. Wright remained in the parish jail on Tuesday; Chantz Choate and Charles Babineaux were released on $25,000 bond.

The teens allegedly robbed the grave at St. Peter's Cemetery on New Years Eve, though it was not reported as a crime until after investigators received information that the headstone was under Wright's porch.

The sheriff described the grave, bearing the letters "JCA," as "extremely old." It was the only grave robbed, he said.

Source

Teens nabbed in grave heist

Jason Brown
[email protected]



NEW IBERIA - Three New Iberia teenagers were arrested Sunday after police discovered the remains of a human being and a headstone from a grave at the home of one of the teens, police said Tuesday.

Sheriff Sid Hebert of the Iberia Parish Sheriff's Office said Jobe J. Wright, 17, Chantz Choate, 17, and Charles Babineaux, 17, were all arrested for simple burglary of a grave. The teenagers allegedly stole the remains and the headstone New Year's Eve from St. Peter's Cemetery in New Iberia.

Hebert said the young men did not damage the bones, which included a human skull, and took them because of their "gothic" beliefs. The "goth" subculture includes dressing in dark clothing, wearing dark makeup, and having piercings and tattoos. It can also involve a fascination with the occult.

"They made it abundantly clear that their goals were not to destroy the remains but to possess them," he said.

But Choate said although he and his friends consider themselves "goths," they took the bones from the cemetery without intending to use them for any occult purposes.

"We don't believe in that," he said. "We would not use them for any kind of rituals or anything like that."

Choate said he and Babineaux were shooting fireworks at the cemetery when they stumbled upon a grave that was already partially opened, and noticed a bag containing bones in the tomb along with some debris.

Choate said he and Babineaux took the bones to Wright's house. Later, Choate said he thought about calling the police, but "I didn't know what would happen. I didn't want to get arrested."

As she sat on her couch Tuesday evening, a ring of tears around her eyes, Choate's mother, Penny Choate, said she is sorry for her son's actions.

She described him as having psychological problems.

"All I know is I'm trying to get help for my son," she said. "I'm not saying that what they did was right, but I think they also need to take into consideration the extenuating circumstances, such as his mental disorders. I'm going to continue to seek help for him."

Chantz also expressed remorse.

"I apologize for what I did, but it's too late to take it back," he said. "I'm just going to have to face the consequences for what I did."

As for the bones themselves, Hebert said they still have no idea to whom they belong. He said the portion of the cemetery where the bones were taken from is one of the oldest. The grave marker listed no name and the headstone that was recovered read, "JCA."

"There's no historical church records that identify who is inside the tomb," he said, and there are a number of graves in the cemetery like this.

The bones were sent to Iberia Parish Coroner James Falterman, who determined that they were indeed the remains of a human being.

Falterman said in his 40 years at the coroner's office he has never been handed a case such as this.

"I think the sad part is that this type of crime not only violates the rules of our society, but it inflicts pain and disgust on the families who have to now deal with a resurrection of parts of their loved ones," Falterman said. "That's just not acceptable behavior in our society."

-------------------
Originally published January 19, 2005

Source

 

[Mighty_Emperor]

I do wonder what they were reallly up to as their explanation sounds ropey:

Hiding casket lids cost technician 'everything'

Darren Bernhardt
Saskatchewan News Network

Saturday, February 05, 2005


A gusty day in Regina led to the downfall of a cremation technician and aspiring funeral director after a number of casket lids he removed and hid in his backyard were blown into an adjacent public park.

The lids contained name tags identifying the person to whom the container belonged.

Russell Surkan was fired from his job at the crematorium in April 2004, but it wasn't until recently that official disciplinary measures were handed down by the Funeral and Cremation Services Council of Saskatchewan (FCSCS), an independent provincial body.

The order of the disciplinary committee was sent last week to 352 member funeral homes. Surkan was found guilty of professional misconduct, fined $4,000 and his funeral director's licence was suspended for a year, retroactive to April 23, 2004. He can re-apply, but he believes there is little chance he'd be successful.

"It's over. My life is ruined," he said in an interview Friday. "I wasn't out to profit from taking the wood and selling it. I never stole anything in my life. I never even took a pen. I did one thing that I regret but my good points outweigh my bad."

Surkan, 60, worked at the Community Crematorium Services, which is owned in partnership between the City of Regina and local funeral homes. Surkan's direct boss was at the Victoria Avenue Funeral Home and Cremation Centre.

No one from the funeral home would comment on the matter. The facility is co-owned by the Alderwoods Group, the second largest operator of funeral homes and cemeteries in North America, and Speers Funeral Chapel. Phone calls to the Alderwoods Group executive office in Toronto were not returned.

Surkan insists he did nothing wrong, since the lids were going to be burned anyway. He pulled them off because it made the burning process quicker. He faced an average of nine cremations a day as the centre did regular work for 11 funeral homes and for as many as 29.

According to the Funeral and Cremation Service Act, the lids of cremation containers are not to be removed after being sealed by the funeral home without receiving FCSCS authorization. That is to preserve the integrity and dignity of the business, ensuring the bodies are not touched or any items stolen, said Scott Hopley, lawyer for the FCSCS investigation committee.

Ironically, it was Surkan's then-wife who tipped off the crematorium. Angered with the way her husband was being pushed at work, she called the funeral home and told them to come and pick up their property. "I was on the phone, staring through the window at the lids hanging in a tree and I couldn't take it anymore," she said.


------------------------
© The Leader-Post (Regina) 2005

Source

 

[Mighty_Emperor]

Woman Allegedly Steals Boyfriend's Ashes


Oct 28, 7:14 PM (ET)

PORTAGE, Wis. (AP) - Sheriff's deputies have arrested a woman for digging up her dead boyfriend's ashes from a Columbia County cemetery more than 10 years ago and drinking the beer that was buried with him, possibly out of spite for his family.

Karen Stolzmann, now 44, was arrested Tuesday in a case Columbia County Detective Wayne Smith calls "twisted and bizarre."

........

http://apnews.excite.com/article/20041028/D860NQGG0.html

Woman Jailed For Stealing Body, Beer From Boyfriend's Grave

POSTED: 9:41 am EST March 1, 2005

SHEBOYGAN, Wis. -- A woman accused of digging up and taking her boyfriend's cremated remains more than a decade ago -- and drinking the beer that was buried with them -- was sentenced to 60 days in jail.

Karen Stolzmann, 44, had faced up to nine months in jail on a misdemeanor charge of concealing stolen property. She was sentenced Monday, Sheboygan County District Attorney Joe DeCecco said.

DeCecco had recommended a six-month sentence.

"I kind of thought she should be punished more," he said. "Under these kinds of circumstances, this is just unexcusable."

Investigators accused Stolzmann of digging up the ashes of her former boyfriend, Michael Hendrickson, at a Columbia County cemetery possibly out of spite for his family.

Hendrickson was 27 when he died in 1992 from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. His relatives contacted authorities last fall after discovering his remains were stolen.

Beer and cigarettes buried with him also were missing.

Investigators were led to Stolzmann, who had lived with Hendrickson and was with him when he shot himself. Both were married to other people at the time.

Detectives searched Stolzmann's home, found her hiding in the shower and located the remains in her garage, authorities said.

Stolzmann also was ordered to pay restitution for metal plaques missing from Hendrickson's grave site, DeCecco said.

---------------------
Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press.

Source

 

[Mighty_Emperor]

'Satanic orgies' desecrated graveyard

By Chris Griffith
April 06, 2005
From:


A CATHOLIC priest will conduct a special graveyard prayer session to ward off evil after vandals smashed 73 grave sites at Balmoral Cemetery in Brisbane last Friday.

Sometime late on April 1, graves were smashed, headstones were kicked over, and two war graves were wrecked irretrievably in a late-night orgy of destruction.

Friends of Balmoral Cemetery president Kelvin Johnston branded the vandalism as the worst seen at the cemetery since the mid-1990s when in one night 200 graves were destroyed.

This latest evil act occurred just six days after The Courier-Mail reported claims of satanic activity at the cemetery.

"We've noticed black candles outside the gateways, gravel witches' circles inside the cemetery, fish with stakes in them, gutted black cats with medical gloves nearby, and anatomically rearranged bones inside a cat carcass," Mr Johnston said at the time.

"And it's obvious that orgies are taking place, as the area where they go is littered with used condoms."

Catholic priest Father Harry Bliss of St Peter and Paul's parish in neighbouring Bulimba said he planned to conduct special prayers in the cemetery to bless it following the latest attack.

However he said his prayer session was not an exorcism as he did not believe satanic activity was the root cause.

Mr Johnston said the war graves were gone forever because the materials used to make them were no longer available.

The vandals had smashed a number of marble and granite gravestones into pieces.

Morningside police said young louts were suspected, rather than satanists.

Source

 

[Mighty_Emperor]

Vt. Teen Accused of Stealing Corpse's Head

Wednesday, April 13, 2005


(04-13) 05:01 PDT Morrisville, Vt. (AP) --

A 17-year-old Morrisville youth was being held on $100,000 bail after police said he raided a tomb in a cemetery and removed a head from a corpse.

"We had a person voice their concerns about information they had heard on the street," said Chief Richard Keith of the Morristown Police Department.

Keith said police at first could not believe what they had heard. But when they went to Morrisville Cemetery and investigated, they found that someone had broken into a tomb, broken open the casket and removed a man's head.

"We had the funeral director come to the scene and we pulled the casket out. Yes, indeed, we found remains and they had been disturbed," Keith said.

Nickolas Buckalew, 17, later was arrested and charged with unauthorized removal of a dead body. He pleaded innocent to the crime.

Police believe they have a strong case against Buckalew because remains and evidence were found in a silo near the suspect's home outside the village and one-fifth of a mile from the cemetery.

"Within minutes we found the duffle bag with the remains in it and tools that were used to enter the tomb and the casket," Keith said.

The victim's widow, the only family member in the area, was told of the vandalism.

"The widow was in shock," the chief said. "She did not want any information. She did not want to know any details."

Authorities are not sure of the motive of the crime. Court documents said the suspect allegedly talked of using the man's head as a bong or a pipe for smoking marijuana.

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[Mighty_Emperor]

Son Finds Exposed Coffins At Chicago Cemetery

POSTED: 8:34 pm EDT May 9, 2005
UPDATED: 8:10 am EDT May 10, 2005

CHICAGO -- A man visiting his mother's grave at a Chicago cemetery said he found deplorable conditions.

"I run up on stuff like these here -- coffins pushed up to the side, all open, foul odors coming out," said Sidney Clark. "I'm seeing coffins open, I'm seeing a lot of dirt that has been moved -- the coffins are not even 3 feet in the ground."

Staff from WMAQ-TV in Chicago saw at least three wooden coffins sticking out of the dirt at Homewood Memorial Gardens, with the plastic-shrouded bodies visible inside. They reported that concrete burial vaults were clearly exposed as well.

On the ground on a hilltop, there were dozens of grave markers askew and stacked in rows. Clark said for three years, he's been trying to find his mother's grave, to no avail.

"If she was living, if she could talk to me now, she'd be glad I'm doing this right here," he said.

A representative of the cemetery tried to show Clark the approximate spot where his mother is buried, Rogers reported, but the grave was not marked.

As for the exposed coffins, maintenance man Rudy Casillas said he's in the process of layering the area where Cook County morgue bodies are buried in pauper's graves. He said after that, the grave markers will be restored to the ground above. Casillas also maintained that the coffins have only been exposed during that process.

"See, this is just erosion," Casillas said. "We have coyotes that come and just dig -- animals and stuff like that."

When Rogers asked if the three coffins he saw sticking out of the ground were buried, Casillas answered that they were.

Cook County Medical Examiner Edmund Donoghue, whose office buries about 30 people a month at Homewood Gardens, said he will send a representative to inspect what Rogers found. Clark's sister said she has retained a lawyer and wants her mother's body exhumed to determine exactly where it is.

The cemetery assured Clark that his mother is not in the area where the graves were found exposed, but Clark said he is not convinced.

"I think they are wrong -- totally wrong," Clark said, adding that he thinks his mother is buried in the area where the coffins were exposed.

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[Mighty_Emperor]

Teen's body hidden in woman's grave

Monday, May 16, 2005 Posted: 11:30 AM EDT (1530 GMT)



PHOENIX, Arizona (AP) -- A 17-year-old boy who disappeared last year was killed during an argument with a friend and then buried at a cemetery, concealed in a woman's freshly dug grave, authorities said.

Richard Waive Palmer, 26, was being held in a Maricopa County jail Monday on a charge of second-degree murder. He confessed last week to killing Robert K. Martin in April 2004 by hitting him over the head with a baseball bat during an argument, authorities said.

Investigators exhumed the body last week. Authorities still need to compare dental records to make a positive identification.

"Had this guy kept his mouth shut, we would've never, ever found out what happened to this victim," Detective Tony Morales said.

Authorities learned that Martin, of Naperville, Illinois, went to Phoenix to see Palmer and to buy marijuana for resale in Chicago, where the drug's street value is higher, Morales said.

Palmer told police he killed Martin, then put the body in the back of an enclosed truck and later in a rented storage facility, Detective Jan Butcher said.

Late one night in May 2004, Palmer took the body to Resthaven Park Cemetery, and found a freshly dug grave. He shoveled about 4 feet into the ground, and put Martin's body in the hole, near the top of a woman's coffin, authorities said.

Detectives had originally suspected Palmer, but had no evidence of a crime. They questioned Palmer again last week after a private detective hired by Martin's family told authorities he had made incriminating statements during an interview.


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Copyright 2005 The Associated Press.

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