Body snatcher: Funeral home owner made over US$1.2M by stealing and selling hundreds of bodies

A Colorado funeral home owner who stole and sold dead people’s bodies or body parts faces up to 20 years in prison and a maximum fine of US$250,000 after pleading guilty to federal charges of mail fraud. Megan Hess, owner of Sunset Mesa Funeral Home in Montrose, Co., admitted to one count of mail fraud and aiding and abetting. Her mother and business partner, Shirley Koch, had previously entered a not guilty plea but is scheduled for a change-of-plea hearing on July 12, according to CNN. As detailed in her plea agreement with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado, Hess carried out her fraudulent activities through a business called Donor Services, which she created in 2009 as a body brokering company. Over eight years from 2010 to 2018, Donor Services sold hundreds of bodies in whole, or dismembered and sold them in parts to buyers that included medical education and scientific research service providers. Meanwhile, the families and friends of the deceased individuals believed their loved ones had been cremated—a deception made credible because Hess sent them urns that supposedly contained “cremains” along with a bill for the cremation. Read: Let’s talk funerals . . . or do we have to? By advertising her funeral home as a lower-priced service, Hess was able to bring in a constant flow of bodies. According to the plea document, investigators have identified 560 victims whose remains were sold without proper donor or family consent. Investigators were able to trace close to US$441,780 in payments to Hess for funeral services associated with 331 victims. In addition to these funeral service payments, Hess received more than US$1.2 million for remains sold through Donor Services. In some cases, the victims’ families had agreed to donate small tissue samples or a particular body part towards a specific type of medical research. One man who died of lung cancer wanted his remains donated for lung cancer research. However, Hess told the man’s widow she kept the body for 45 days and conducted her own “medical research.” The widow found out later from the US. Federal Bureau of Investigations that Hess subsequently sold the body to Global Anatomy Project LLC, a provider of medical education services and “resources.” Read: Colorado anesthesiologist sentenced to month in jail for choking nurse in recovery room The families each paid Hess about US$1,000 or more for cremation services. FBI-ordered lab testing found that in a majority of the cases, the cremated remains sent to the families consisted of ashes that were from another person’s remains. The ashes were often mixed with debris, which suggested the bodies were being burned together with trash. The dead people’s families were not the only victims in the scheme. The plea document described the companies that bought the remains as innocent victims led to believe the bodies had been obtained through legitimate donations. These companies also required the remains to be free of particular infectious diseases, namely hepatitis and HIV. In dozens of instances, however, the remains tested positive for these diseases so Hess forged laboratory results to indicate negative results. By structuring her funeral service and body donor service businesses under one corporate entity, Hess was able to maintain complete oversight of her operations. The discovery of her crimes subsequently led to the state of Colorado enacting legislation to prohibit similar operations. Read: US$8.75 million awarded to family whose daughters were fathered secretly by fertility doctor

Body snatcher: Funeral home owner made over US$1.2M by stealing and selling hundreds of bodies

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