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Welcome
Taphophilia (dot) Com...
A repository of morbid curiosities:
Thanatology and Taphophile Issues, Cemetery,
Funeral Industry and Death Related News.
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Burial and cremation switched, court told |
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Written by DeadGirl
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Wednesday, 15 December 2004 |
By Leonie Lamont
December 15, 2004
"It was like a horror story, really." Widow Rose Davidson recalls the morning she stood at what she thought was her husband's graveside, watching health department officials exhume the coffin.
Her 65-year-old husband, Errol, was not inside the coffin. Instead, it was a frail centenarian, Daisy Jones. The coffin had been weighted down with a concrete paver and a brick.
Mrs Jones was supposed to be cremated. By now, however, Mr Davidson had been cremated in her place.
Both the Davidson family and the Jones family were clients of Caring Funerals at Five Dock in late 2001. Yesterday, in Burwood Local Court, the funeral home's managing director, Adam James Lee, pleaded not guilty to two charges of dishonestly obtaining money, and attempting to obtain money by deception.
Lee has been an active player in the funeral business, and last year he was out on Sydney Harbour promoting sea funerals.
Mark Thomas, for the Director of Public Prosecutions, said both families were sent bills. Mrs Jones's family had contracted for a funeral and cremation at Rookwood cemetery, and the Davidson family for a funeral and burial at Forest Lawn Memorial Gardens and Crematorium, where Mrs Davidson had bought a double plot. Mrs Jones's 75-year-old son, William, paid the $3309 Caring Funerals bill, and a further $670 in cremation expenses to Rookwood gardens crematorium.
In court, a former employee, Robin Ebbott, said he couldn't sleep after Lee explained the mix-up to him. They had put Mrs Jones's body into Mr Davidson's coffin. He said Lee put a paver in the coffin. "He then grabbed an old [five-litre] bottle we had degreaser in . . . and filled it up with water and placed it in the coffin as well."
Under cross-examination from Roland Bonnici, for Lee, Mr Ebbott said he didn't say anything at the time as he was confused and disgusted. Mr Davidson's funeral - minus his body - went ahead the next day. "At that time I thought it might have been the best thing to leave as is," said Mr Ebbott, "but then, knowing that Mrs Davidson was going to be buried with her husband ... I thought that was wrong."
The day after the Davidson funeral, Mr Ebbott said, he told Lee he should contact the families and explain. "Adam told me, pleaded with me, to keep quiet about it ... he was a little bit emotional about the matter and so was I."
In the following days, Mr Ebbott alerted the Health Department and the Registry of Births Deaths and Marriages, resulting in the exhumation.
Mr Bonnici suggested Mr Ebbott believed Mr Lee should take responsibility for the mistakes, and made up the conversations - which Mr Ebbott denied.
Detective Senior Constable Anastatious Georgopoulos, under questioning, agreed that the brick and paver found inside the coffin had not been tested for fingerprints or DNA, and were not in police custody. He agreed there was no water-filled container in the coffin. He also said photos taken at the exhumation could not be located, as the file was so old it had been sent to a repository.
The case was originally before Magistrate Pat O'Shane in 2002. She threw it out, saying the facts did not disclose an offence. Her decision was overturned on appeal, with a direction she hear it.
Outside the court, Mrs Davidson and her son, Peter, said Mr Davidson had been a private, old-fashioned man who wanted a burial. They want greater regulation in the funeral industry.
Paul Jones, a grandson of Mrs Jones, said: "What we couldn't believe, Mr Lee was given custody of her body. He went and collected it, took it to Rookwood crematorium - and they cremated my grandmother on the Saturday morning with no family being present, without us even being able to hold another service for her."
Rookwood, as a goodwill gesture, later organised a memorial service for Mrs Jones. Mrs Davidson said another funeral home donated a coffin for her husband and his ashes were now interred in it in their burial plot. The case was adjourned until April.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/National/Burial-and-cremation-switched-court-told/2004/12/14/1102787086245.html?oneclick=true |
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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
Quote Repository
“Death is a Dialogue between The Spirit and the Dust.” Emily Dickinson
Shirtless and Sculpted
The Men of Mortuaries 2008 Calendar is now available! All sale proceeds benefit KAMMCARES, a breast cancer foundation.
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