To make matters worse, when bodies were cremated, the funeral home often performed the cremation with more than one body because the mother-daughter duo had a hard time keeping the bodies separate.
“They took advantage of numerous victims who were at their lowest point given the recent loss of a loved one,” said U.S. Attorney Cole Finegan in a press release. “We hope these prison sentences will bring the victim’s family members some amount of peace as they move forward in the grieving process. We sincerely hope this punishment deters like-minded fraudsters in the future.”
In an interview after her arrest, the mother of the funeral home director selling body parts told and FBI agent that she was “the labor part,” and her daughter was “the business part of it.”
Hess was sentenced to 20 years in prison and her mother, Koch was sentenced to 15 years.
So what are people saying about this?
One YouTube viewer wrote, “Why would anyone do this? It’s morbid and inhumane! They should be locked up a lot longer. As well as the people that are purchasing the parts. I feel really bad for all of the families and friends of the deceased. This is awful.”
Another user wrote, “So heartless!! Grieving families put their trust in these people, to treat their loved ones deceased body, with dignity…What they did was a ‘betrayal’ of confidence and just sick! Should have got a longer sentence.”
One user suspected that these women’s actions are not uncommon, saying, “Don’t think she’s the only one who’s done this. Imagine how many other funeral directors who’ve done this!!”
This, apparently, isn’t the only crime committed by funeral homes. One YouTube user explained, “I had a friend who works at a funeral home and he said that the families are never told that they are actually renting the plot and that after 50 or 100 years after those family members are long gone themselves. The funeral home will dig the body up and will resale that plot to another unsuspecting family. I have family buried at Paradise cemetery and I’m positive that’s what they are doing too.”
It’s a sad story, but thankfully it has been stopped and justice has been served.