Taphophilia.(dot) Com - Funeral Director attempts to fake own death

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Funeral Director attempts to fake own death

Written by DeadGirl
Monday, 17 April 2006
*Allen Kirk Wolford probably just wishes* he were dead.** The Colorado Springs funeral home director thought he’d found the perfect way to get out of child support and student loans: fake his death. Wolford, 45 confessed to forging his death certificate in hopes of avoiding paying $42,000 in back child support and $7,000 in student loans, according to court documents released Wednesday. He told police he wanted to buy a house but couldn’t qualify for a loan because of the debt, an arrest affidavit stated. “I didn’t think I’d get caught,” he told Colorado Springs police, according to the affidavit. “I guess it was pretty stupid.” Wolford was jailed Friday on suspicion of forgery, a felony. He’s being held without bond on a fugitive from justice warrant out of California on suspicion of theft. Details of that case weren’t available. Wolford, a director and embalmer for Evergreen Funeral Home and Blunt Mortuary, allegedly forged his death certificate, listing his date of death as Jan. 16 and that he died from cardiac arrest at Penrose Hospital. His home address is listed as 2229 W. Colorado Ave., the location of Blunt Mortuary. The certificate says he was cremated. After a death occurs, funeral homes send death certificates to the health department in the county where the person died. Then it’s passed on to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment to be registered. “We do see cases like this where people want to be erased because they’re wanted by the law or owe money,” said Ron Hyman, state registrar of vital statistics. “It’s fairly uncommon.” Officials determined Wolford’s certificate was fake before it had been registered, Hyman said. The state investigated the reported death after a company called to verify Wolford’s death, Hyman said, declining to give details. After agencies such as banks and governments receive death notices, they typically call the state to verify the deaths, he said. Wolford told police he sent the forged certificate to the Colorado Attorney General and the West Virginia State Child Support Division, where he owes back payments, according to the arrest affidavit. Nolan Funeral Home in Colorado Springs is listed as the facility that handled Wolford’s death. Owner Neva Nolan said an El Paso County health department official called Friday to ask why she hadn’t filed the certificate with the county. Nolan checked her records and found she didn’t handle Wolford’s case. “I really got angry that somebody would try a stinking stunt like that,” she said Wednesday. Nolan said the signature on the certificate for her funeral home is a made-up name. Wolford worked for Evergreen and Blunt since September, said Rick Glover, general manager of both facilities. He declined further comment. Wolford was fired Friday. Glover told police one of his employees found a suspicious e-mail March 31 that was sent from Blunt. The message to the West Virginia State Child Support Division notified officials of Wolford’s death and had his wife’s name on it. “In the e-mail, she stated because her husband was deceased she was not responsible for his back child support,” the affidavit states. “The e-mail then read that the death certificate would be attached.” Wolford denied knowing about the e-mail or death certificate when questioned by Glover, the affidavit states. Wolford later allegedly told police he sent the e-mail. “My wife has nothing to with this,” he told officers when they arrived at the couple’s home to arrest him, according to the affidavit. “She didn’t know.” Court records don’t show any criminal convictions for Wolford in Colorado, but the affidavit states he has numerous Social Security numbers and aliases in his criminal history, apparently in other states. If convicted of forgery, he faces up to three years in prison and a fine up to $100,000. “He said that he didn’t think anybody would check the death certificate,” Officer Connie Guthrie wrote in the affidavit. Source: http://www.gazette.com/display.php?id=1316427&secid=1

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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

Taphophiles Speak

Have you decided on eternal repose?

	earthen burial
	entombment
	cremation
	donation to science
	cyrogenically frozen
	you mean I'm still alive?

Quote Repository

“Down, down, down into the darkness of the grave Gently they go, the beautiful, the tender, the kind; Quietly they go, the intelligent, the witty, the brave. I know. But I do not approve. And I am not resigned.”

Edna St. Vincent Millay