Sick and Twisted Funeral Stories

1.

Bobby Wilks was a funeral director in Tennessee for over 20 years. At one ceremony, pall bearers noticed Wilks had lowered a vault into the grave but it had no lid, which cost the family $375. Soon families came wondering what Wilks did to their deceased, so 30 bodies were exhumed. Ten coffins were stuffed with garbage, two were on their side without lids, and one guy was buried with no coffin at all. Wilks got 28 years in prison.

2.

In the 70's Joseph Damiano ran a cremation and body-transport company in Florida. But lawsuits poured in quickly, with one woman claiming her husband's ashes were mixed with someone else's. Another woman whose baby had died found that ashes were added to the urn because "babies don't leave much in the way of ashes".

3.

Not only did Damiano not even show up to his civil suits, allegations also included him dumping ashes in the parking lot instead of storing them. To add insult to injury, despite being ordered to pay 39 million in damages, no money could be claimed, since Damiano had placed all business and property under other people's names.

4.

A search found he didn't even have a license to operate a business, and most times, would sell bodies to embalming schools for about $100 a piece - this included those of Jewish clients, whose religion forbids them from embalming their dead. Today Damiano is trying his hand at scamming people again, with a new cremation company in another state. He is already accused of holding ashes for "ransom".

5.

In 1998, a funeral staff in Kentucky suffered a break-in. They eventually checked inside the casket of 9-year-old Brittany Rae Bradley, who had died of cancer and had a service earlier that evening. Turns out the robber had stolen something - her underwear. Her cousin, 31-year-old Mark Calebs, was accused, and police found the missing garment in his trailer. He was charged accordingly.

6.

Funeral director Mark Villella found out his wife had been having an affair. The next day she didn't show up for work and her family called the police. Mark claimed he had no idea where she went, but they had a 1-year-old son and her car was still in the driveway.

7.

It was concluded that Mark, who had a closed-casket funeral for an older woman that next day, probably killed his wife and intended to bury the two bodies together. He confessed and got 30 years.

8.

In 1986, Anthony Parisi died at 83. But the next day, employees at the funeral home opened his casket to find his head was missing. Police claim someone must have broke in and cut it off with a razor or scalpel. Except nothing in the building was stolen or disturbed, and there were no signs of a break-in. Parisi's head was never found.

9.

On August 15, 2003, Julie Mott was just 26 when she died from cystic fibrosis. And between the time of her service and when the home closed up for the night, someone stole her body. It was never found.

10.

Theories range from a jealous ex to a protester opposed to cremation. Even so, the Motts sued the funeral home for gross negligence, which they protested, since a $20,000 reward was offered for any information on the whereabouts of her body.