Funeral Home Accused Of Abusing Corpse

Alabama Gadsden Alabama funeral director is facing a
felony charge after police found a woman's decomposing body in the
back of a hearse.

by The Associated Press

Published: Wed, February 25, 2009 - 12:47 pm CST Last Updated: Wed, February 25, 2009 - 1:29 pm CST

GADSDEN, Ala. (AP) - A Gadsden funeral director is facing a
felony charge after police found a woman's decomposing body in the
back of a hearse.
Police said 76-year-old Harold Watson Sr. was charged Tuesday
with abusing a corpse. He's the owner of Watson and Sons Funeral
Home in Gadsden.
Police said Edna Kathleen Woods died of natural causes in
November 2007 at the age of 52. Relatives said they wanted her
remains cremated.
But police say the family never signed papers for a cremation or
paid the funeral home. So the owner allegedly put the body in the
back of a hearse recently and parked it on a lot with other old
vehicles.
Someone complained about a foul odor, leading officers to
discover the decomposing remains.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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heiffer71 Says:

Thu, Feb 26, 2009 at 11:57 am

Im gonna have to kinda agree with ICKTHUS on this one. I mean we are taling about a lapse of over a year, the family should have know something was up when they did not get the cremated remains of their “loved” one. Obviously they didnt care for their loved one since they never paid or picked up the body BUT the funeral director really should not of disposed it in the way he did. I mean have a little compassion, I’m sure it is very inexpensive to cremate a body and store the remains… even if it was in a walmart bag or old card board box.

Krickkett Says:

Thu, Feb 26, 2009 at 8:22 am

No….they DONT do ANYTHING to deadbeats….please don’t get me started on that subject…. .

As far as the family….they knew she was dead….there should be a law forcing them to do something with her for God sakes….. and again…it’s not anyones responsibility to bury a member of our family but our own.

I wonder if there is such a law protecting the dead from losers that they called family? Obviously not.

That is pretty messed up what the funeral home did as well, I guess now the family will want to sue him.

Pitiful

ickthus Says:

Wed, Feb 25, 2009 at 2:50 pm

what did he do wrong? He was just holding the order in long term storage. what the family did was a crime. Did not pay or pick up the body. alot of places, after 30 days its your to do with anyway. good business for them. we put dead ,dead beats in hold untill you pick up or pay. were was the state in this? doesn’t the state pick up and pay for unclaimed bodys?