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Funeral director charged with theft, corpse abuse |
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Written by DeadGirl
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Sunday, 24 July 2005 |
By JAMES A. KIMBLE, The Eagle-Tribune
July 22, 2005
BRENTWOOD--In at least two cases last year, prosecutors say funeral director Derek Wallace profited by misleading his customers, making them believe they were using another crematorium than the one he once owned.
His customers signed contracts so their loved ones would be cremated at Linwood Crematory in Haverhill, Mass., but prosecutors say they had no idea the bodies were actually being taken to Bayview Crematorium in Seabrook. Bayview has become the focal point of state police investigating a possible scheme of fraud and questionable practices.
The benefit is an obvious one, Rockingham County Attorney James Reams said about diverting the bodies. More cash goes into the Wallace chain of companies.
At the time, Wallace had a controlling interest in Bayview, along with his two funeral homes in Lawrence and Salisbury, Mass., and a transportation business, Professional Mortuary Association, which drove the bodies to Seabrook, according to police.
A Rockingham County grand jury brought five felony theft charges against Wallace, 34, of Salisbury, for using Bayview, and one misdemeanor charge of abuse of a corpse for cremating a body last June of a 55-year-old man without first having the body inspected by a medical examiner. Bayview operated for six years without state approval before being shut down by authorities in February.
As prosecutors announced new indictments against Wallace, the embattled funeral director won a small, but significant, victory from a Lawrence District Court judge this week in challenging his license suspension that could put him out of business for five years.
Judge Barbara Savitt Pearson will allow Wallace's lawyer, Scott Gleason, to call witnesses, which may include members of the state funeral board. Gleason plans to argue the board made its decision “in bad faith, regulators said.
Pearson barred Gleason, of Haverhill, from challenging any findings by the board, which concluded Wallace engaged in deceptive business practices to increase his profit margin. But the decision has sent prosecutors scrambling to call their own witnesses to uphold the suspension funeral regulators handed down last August.
Gleason, who represents Wallace in his criminal case as well, did not return phone calls seeking comment.
http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050722/NEWS02/50722008/-1/ENTERTAINMENT |
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