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A League City man was charged Thursday with burying his deceased mother in the back yard.

Police received a request for a welfare check from the woman's bank. The woman's 54-year-old son was at the home in the 3100 block of Sand Reef. Police originally arrested him for forgery. They search the house and grounds and found the woman's body buried under freshly turned dirt.

The suspect was also charged with abuse of a corpse.

http://galvestondailynews.com/story/324942" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

- Jim

You can't make this stuff up.

Anygunanywhere

Words fail me.

seamusTX wrote:A League City man was charged Thursday with burying his deceased mother in the back yard.

Police received a request for a welfare check from the woman's bank. The woman's 54-year-old son was at the home in the 3100 block of Sand Reef. Police originally arrested him for forgery. They search the house and grounds and found the woman's body buried under freshly turned dirt.

The suspect was also charged with abuse of a corpse.

http://galvestondailynews.com/story/324942" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

- Jim

So burying a dead body in the back yard is against the law? Man, there goes my plan. That's what I told my wife to do with my body when I die. Either that or just put me inside a trash bag and have the trash men pick me up on trash day. I'll be dead, so what do I care what they do with my body.

JJVP wrote:

seamusTX wrote:A League City man was charged Thursday with burying his deceased mother in the back yard.

Police received a request for a welfare check from the woman's bank. The woman's 54-year-old son was at the home in the 3100 block of Sand Reef. Police originally arrested him for forgery. They search the house and grounds and found the woman's body buried under freshly turned dirt.

The suspect was also charged with abuse of a corpse.

http://galvestondailynews.com/story/324942" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

- Jim

So burying a dead body in the back yard is against the law? Man, there goes my plan. That's what I told my wife to do with my body when I die. Either that or just put me inside a trash bag and have the trash men pick me up on trash day. I'll be dead, so what do I care what they do with my body.

Weekend at JJVP's instead of a weekend at Bernie's??

Just sayin'.

Anygunanywhere

So he should have buried her in the FRONT yard instead?

I understand he was (allegedly, ianal, tgif) defrauding the taxpayers and they should prosecute him for that.

The other charges seem bogus. Is it illegal to have a family cemetery on property that's been in the family 100 years? If not, where is the line drawn for how long you have to own the property before burying an ancestor there? Maybe there's a zoning violation but that's municipal, not penal code.

tacticool wrote:I understand he was (allegedly, ianal, tgif) defrauding the taxpayers and they should prosecute him for that.

The other charges seem bogus. Is it illegal to have a family cemetery on property that's been in the family 100 years? If not, where is the line drawn for how long you have to own the property before burying an ancestor there? Maybe there's a zoning violation but that's municipal, not penal code.

From what I read he forged his mother's signature on government checks. In addition to zoning laws, there are usually health code regulations concerning cemeteries.

tacticool wrote:Is it illegal to have a family cemetery on property that's been in the family 100 years?

Probably a century-old family cemetery would be grandfathered.

No human development in League City is 100 years old. That subdivision probably was built in the 1960s or 70s.

When a person dies, the death has to be certified by some kind of medical personnel. If a person dies at home, a funeral director takes the body by the ER to get a death certificate.

Also there are regulations about the depth of graves and probably coffins or other structures to prevent the grave being dug up by animals or flooding out. Someone can't just dig a hole and throw his mother's body in it—aside from it being a moral outrage.

Many people are arrested just to get them into custody and in the justice system. About half of state charges are dropped or dismissed for lack of evidence.

I would guess the abuse of a corpse charge will be dropped when the federal violations kick in. Most DAs would rather dump a case on the feds than prosecute it in state court.

- Jim

Is this the guy that even dressed up like his deceased mother to go in the bank to cash at least one of the checks?

I duuno'. The undertakers' lobby is pretty strong. Funerals, grave sites and cremations are obscenely expensive. I've told Mrs. Oldgringo, and anybody else who might act like they care, to take the cheapest and most immediate way out with my remains. I won't bear any grudges and they should feel no remorse. Life is for the living - as are funerals.

C-dub wrote:Is this the guy that even dressed up like his deceased mother to go in the bank to cash at least one of the checks?

No. That guy went to the slammer about two months ago.

If you look at the photo on the Daily News website (which was not there this morning) he couldn't impersonate anyone's mother.

I should know better than to read comments on websites. They are often posted by sociopaths who appear to have nothing better to do. I almost can't believe that someone thinks it's OK for a man to throw his mother's corpse in a hole without notifying anyone (aside from Social Security), without a funeral or a clergyman. I treated my last pet that died better than that.

- Jim

Oldgringo wrote:I duuno'. The undertakers' lobby is pretty strong. Funerals, grave sites and cremations are obscenely expensive.

I agree that the funeral business is generally a scam.

If you plan ahead, you can have economical final rites that are decorous and respect the feelings of the living. It's like a lot of things in life that require a little planning.

I can't believe I'm having this conversation.

- Jim

seamusTX wrote:

Oldgringo wrote:I duuno'. The undertakers' lobby is pretty strong. Funerals, grave sites and cremations are obscenely expensive.

I agree that the funeral business is generally a scam.

If you plan ahead, you can have economical final rites that are decorous and respect the feelings of the living. It's like a lot of things in life that require a little planning.

I can't believe I'm having this conversation.

- Jim

I agree. Maybe we should just kill it.

Here's one option If you qualify. http://www.cem.va.gov/bbene_burial.asp" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;