US: Indiana funeral home director pleads guilty to 40 theft counts after decomposing bodies found
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The police in Jeffersonville began investigating the Lankford Funeral Home and Family Center in July last year after the county coroners office reported a strong odour emanating from the building.
The director of a funeral home in southern Indiana pleaded guilty to over 40 counts of felony theft on Friday (May 26) after 31 decomposing bodies and the cremains of 17 others were found at the premises. According to a report by the news agency Associated Press on Saturday, Clark County Circuit Court Judge N. Lisa Glickfield said that Randy Lankford- the owner of Lankford Funeral Home and Family Center in Jeffersonville- faces a proposed sentence of 12 years.
The sentence includes four years in prison and eight years in home incarceration, Judge Glickfield said.
Lankford was charged with theft for failing to complete funeral services he was paid for, and must also pay restitution to 53 families totalling $46,000. He was released to home incarceration after the hearing, and a formal sentencing hearing has been planned for June 23, the report said.
The investigation
The police in Jeffersonville began investigating the Lankford Funeral Home and Family Center in July last year after the county coroners office reported a strong odour emanating from the building. In a statement, Major Isaac Parker said cops worked through the night and into the morning and located 31 bodies, "some of which were in advanced stages of decomposition," along with the post-cremation remains of 16 other people, according to a report by USA Today.
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Sunday, May 28, 2023 at 4:36 am