Paper Permits & Wedding Caskets | 4M #147
Welcome to the hundred-and-forty-seventh edition of Morticians’ Monday Morning Mashup, 4M #147, where we’ll serve up bite-sized, easily-digestible nuggets of the deathcare news you need to crush conversations in the week ahead. Bon appetit!
FL DC debacle
Funeral directors in Florida and the families they serve are frustrated after the Electronic Death RegistrySystem (EDRS) was shut down weeks ago thanks to a ransomware attack on the state’s health department. Reverting to the old manual system — which involves processing three-page burial permits and paper certificates — is delaying not only burials and death certificates, but subsequently the filing of insurance policies, etc. Some funeral directors are speaking out, while at the same time doing all they can to help families however they can.
Grave charges
A Pennsylvania man is facing federal fraud charges after scamming nearly 500 Pennsylvania and New Jersey families out of about $1.5 million through his memorial business. Gregory J. Stefan, Jr. allegedly promised “custom headstone and engraving services” after demanding up to 100% of the cost as a down payment — and either never delivered or went well past his promised due date. When families would ask for updates, he’d simply put them off.
No pleas for the Hallfords
Return to Nature’s Jon and Carie Hallford were expected to appear in court last week to enter pleas on the plethora of charges related to their horrific handling of nearly 200 bodies. While Carie made it to the hearing, Jon was a no-show, and the judge issued a bench warrant for his arrest. Regardless, no pleas were entered. The parties involved agreed to a final arraignment date of September 20, after which they could move on to their trials — unless they agree to the terms of two plea deals that are on the table for negotiation through October. The current deals would mean each of the Hallfords would spend up to 20 years in prison.
Resentencing for Sunset Mesa
The prison sentences of Sunset Mesa mom-daughter fraudster duo of Shirley Koch and Megan Hess are being vacated — even though they pleaded guilty last year to mail fraud and have already started serving their 15- and 20-year respective prison sentences. Koch and Hess were accused of illegally sold the body parts of up to 550 individuals through their Colorado funeral home over eight years. On July 2, a federal judge ruled that the sentencing judge “erred” on several points by giving the women “longer terms than allowed by the advisory guidelines.” The new judge did not recommend an appropriate sentence; however, the case will eventually go to the district court for resentencing.
Widen your recruiting efforts
The number of funeral directors in the UK has risen by 28% since 2014, a study published last week found. Unfortunately, that good news comes on the heels of a March body-mishandling scandal that resulted in renewed interest in tightening restrictions on the now-unregulated funeral industry across the pond.
Symbolic or sick?
This TikTok is from 2022, but it’s resurfaced as more grooms have recently chosen the same manner of grand entrance at their own wedding ceremonies. What do YOU think?
Finger foods and fancy chairs
Folks in South Africa were pretty upset last week after hearing that the government spent almost $2m in public funds last year on an extravagant funeral for the leader of their education department. According to reports, the government paid the equivalent of $8,300 USD on finger foods, $3,700 on “executive” chairs, $3,200 on red roses, about $12,000 for three gospel singers, and $550 on Astroturf; the services of the mortuary and cemetery alone were about $23,000. Now, all this may not seem like ridiculous expenses for some American politicians’ last rites, but as one X user commented, “If you’ve seen the state of the roads and the state of schools in the Free State, this would infuriate you.” The government is claiming that the event company contracted to plan the services didn’t follow protocol and will be investigated.
