![]() ![]() The combination of the number of charges could have brought prison terms ranging from 188-268 years, alongside numerous fines. for the future care and maintenance of the graves and grounds of the cemetery. § 367.952 demands that cemeteries hold a portion of funds from the sale of plots, mausoleums, etc. § 525.130, abuse of a corpse is a class A misdemeanor. § 525.115, violation of graves is a class D felony, and states that the court shall order the defendant to restore the cemetery to the pre-damage state. 1989) All three resigned from the company board immediately and a receiver was put in place. In July of 1989, Charles Alexander, Jr., Clifford Amos, and Robert Copeland were indicted on charges including corpse abuse, grave desecration, theft, improper handling of burial payments, and failure in handling funds for perpetual care. The fund for perpetual care had over $100,000 missing, and surviving family members were charged with upkeep of the graves - money which never went towards maintenance of any kind.ĭiBlasi and Caldwell would continue working on uncovering remains while the executive officers of the Louisville Crematory and Cemeteries Co. Section 19, also called “Babyland,” saw stillborn babies buried not only improperly, but after having been solicited from grieving mothers for $75. ![]() 1989) Infant graves were found to be buried incredibly shallow, with some no deeper than under 10 inches of soil. DiBlasi said he and Caldwell have also uncovered several buried gravestones while digging up graves.” (see Miller, Nov. “In the crematory’s cellar, he found the remains of 244 cremated bodies, many unidentified. “During the subsequent investigation, Caldwell found human bones throughout Eastern Cemetery - in a truck’s glove compartment, in a tool box, in a storage shed, in dirt piles, and even in a White Castle hamburger bag, his report said. Bones were also strewn into other graves or…well…. Dirt for the burials often contained other bones, and were - according to witnesses - often covered by tarps so people wouldn’t see them. Instead, they simply had a backhoe dig into the grave, causing remains to disperse amidst the dirt and scatter throughout the grounds. Worse still, bodies weren’t neatly stacked up on top of another. ![]() From what was uncovered, the company would wait about twenty years between burials-long enough for people to have stopped visiting the deceased - mark it in the records as an “Old Grave” or “OG,” and then relist the plot. Grave markers were missing, some destroyed. The exact number is unknown, and likely will never be. In reality, evidence showed that it holds approximately 138,000 bodies. According to regulation, a cemetery of its size should not exceed around 30,000 graves. It appeared at first glance that the cemetery held around 16,000 graves. Almost every grave had evidence of being used. Assigning investigator James Caldwell, who in turn worked alongside UofL archaeology professor Philip DiBlasi, they wanted to know what that something was. Bob Allen, gravedigger and maintenance at Eastern went to the Attorney General and told him that he believed it and its parent company, Louisville Crematory and Cemeteries, were hiding something. In a city that prides itself on its Victorian grandeur, the cemetery seems forgotten and neglected. Both were the only crematoriums in Louisville for decades. The original crematorium sits at the front, and to the far back lays the second, larger one. Vandals have desecrated numerous parts of the place. Several have been broken, toppled, or simply overrun by nature. Beyond the cast iron bars lay headstones of a myriad of ages. That shouldn’t excuse its sorry state, of course. Certainly not as grand as its neighboring burial grounds. Small and unassuming, were it not for the awful state of the place.Įastern Cemetery was never meant to be grand. The façade of a marvelous cemetery ends, and the bleak, rusted iron fences of a long neglected and forgotten one greets you. Go down the road towards downtown just a bit. Standing tall with a clock tower and an ever-watchful statue of Jesus overlooking those who cross its threshold is the majestic Cave Hill Cemetery, a historic and well-known city of the dead for its many famous graves. Walk along the quaint-yet busy-intersection of Baxter Avenue and Broadway in Louisville, and you will be greeted with a most beautiful gate.
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