PITTSBURGH: A former funeral director withdrew his guilty plea to charges that he stored the corpses of 19 babies in his garage. Robert Winston Jr., 63, withdrew his plea Thursday, when he was to be sentenced on one count of theft and one count of abusing a corpse.

Winston and his attorneys decided to withdraw the plea after Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Jeffrey A. Manning said he was planning to postpone sentencing. Manning said he needed more time after reading a report containing graphic details about the remains found in Winston's garage, which also included more than 300 fetuses.

Winston had originally faced 19 corpse-abuse counts. In June, prosecutors withdrew all but one charge saying that the case essentially involved theft because Winston was paid to have the remains cremated, but did not. The one corpse-abuse charge was meant to represent all live births, prosecutors said.

The remains — the result of miscarriages and abortions — came from women treated at Magee-Womens Hospital from late 2000 through May 2002. Prosecutors said Winston was paid $45 to dispose of the remains of each fetus older than 16 gestational weeks and $1 a pound (0.45 kilogram) to handle the others which, under the law, are deemed medical waste.

Winston's divorce and financial problems led him to store the remains in his garage after he accepted payment from Magee-Womens, according to prosecutors.

The fetal remains were found after Winston's ex-wife called police in August 2005. Authorities said more than 300 fetuses were found.

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/09/06/america/NA-GEN-US-Baby-Corpses.php