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Undertakers yield licenses PDF Print E-mail
Written by DeadGirl   
Tuesday, 13 June 2006
Linked by state to parts probe
By SIMONE WEICHSELBAUM

A Kensington funeral director and his brother, who owns an undertaking business in Hunting Park, have surrendered their licenses during a state-led probe alleging that they played a role in a nationwide body parts scandal, the Department of State announced yesterday.

Louis Garzone and his younger brother, Gerald, voluntarily allowed the state's Bureau of Professional and Occupational Affairs to revoke their funeral directors' licenses and their funeral home license, the agency said.

The brothers agreed to close up their businesses on Wednesday, said the agency.

They will no longer operate as funeral directors in Pennsylvania, the agency said.

Louis Garzone, 63, received his directors license in 1966, and his brother, 46, obtained his in 1985, records showed.

Louis Garzone also partly owns Liberty Cremations, Inc. The fate of the crematorium was unclear last night. The city sent at least 128 unclaimed bodies to Liberty in 2004 and 2005.

The Department of State and the Philadelphia district attorney's office launched separate investigations into the Louis Garzone Funeral home in March after the Daily News reported that the parlor was linked to a multi-state probe led by the Brooklyn, N.Y., district attorney.

Brooklyn authorities alleged in February that Biomedical Tissue Service Inc., of Fort Lee, N.J., teamed up with about 30 funeral homes in New York, New Jersey, and Philadelphia and illegally dissected corpses for profit.

Two former Biomedical workers - Kevin Vickers and Lee Cruceta - told the Daily News that they extracted bones, veins and tendons from dozens of corpses inside the Louis Garzone Funeral Home. One Biomedical employee said he began dissecting bodies at Garzone's in February 2004 and stopped last September.

Gerald Garzone was never linked to the allegations until yesterday.

According to a Department of State press release, the Garzones allegedly acted with "gross incompetence, negligence and misconduct over an 18-month period from 2003 to September 2005."

Also, separate agreements signed by the Garzones made evident for the first time, in writing, allegations connecting them to the body-parts scandal.

It was alleged that the two brothers may have permitted, inside their funeral homes, the removal of body parts from corpses they were going to bury.

The two brothers didn't admit such activities took place, according to state documents.

Despite giving up their businesses, the brothers would not say whether they were connected to the now-defunct tissue company or its owner, Michael Mastromarino. The Garzones were not named in the Brooklyn indictments.

"Respondents do not admit any wrongdoing," stated the Department of State's Agreement of Voluntary Surrender and Order, signed by Louis Garzone.

Gerald Garzone signed a similar agreement.

"The [State Board of Funeral Directors] moved quickly once the alleged activities of the Garzone brothers were reported by the Daily News," said Commissioner Basil L. Merenda of the Bureau of Professional and Occupational Affairs, whose section of the state agency called for the probe.

The bureau provides licenses in a variety of careers, ranging from "doctors and cosmetologists to accountants and funeral directors," according to its website.

And, "the Garzones did cooperate with this investigation," Merenda said.

The Department of State worked with the Philadelphia district attorney's Office and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Merenda said.

The D.A.'s office is conducting its own probe into Louis Garzone. In March, Philadelphia investigators paid a surprise visit to employees at his funeral home and questioned workers for several hours, according to one source.

Investigators also interviewed at least two tissue-recovery Biomedical technicians in April, according to several sources close to the case.

Merenda said he did not know why the Garzones agreed to give up their careers three months after the state and the D.A.'s investigation began.

Merenda said their decision ended what would have been a longer process, including hearings and witnesses' testimony.

Attorneys for the brothers could not be reached for comment last night.

http://www.philly.com/mld/dailynews/14786544.htm
 
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Taphophilia?

taphophilia (taf′ō-fil′ē-ă)

ORIGIN:
From the Greek words taphos, meaning "tomb" or "sepulcher" and philia, meaning "attraction or affinity to something, in particular the love or obsession with something"

DEFINITION: 1. An excessive interest in graves and cemeteries. 2. A love or fondness for funerals, graves, and cemeteries. 3. In psychiatry, a morbid attraction to graves and cemeteries

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