By Calvin Palmer
A former New Jersey funeral director today admitted his link to a macabre body parts ring.
Stephen K. Finley, 45, of Murray Hill, pleaded guilty, at Essex County Superior Court, to disturbing and desecrating human remains.
Authorities linked Finley to a body parts ring that collected bones, tissue, and skin from more than 1,000 corpses in New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania, said Essex County Prosecutor’s Office.
Finley owns Berardinelli funeral home, also known as Funeraria Santa Cruz, in Newark. He is one of two New Jersey funeral directors involved in the scheme.
Robert J. Maitner Jr., who owned Kiernan Funeral Home in Belleville, pleaded guilty in New York for his role in the scheme. His charges in New Jersey remain pending.
Finley sold corpses to ringleader Michael Mastromarino, a former dentist and the founder of Biomedical Tissue Services and who is serving 18 to 54 years in prison in New York. He was paid $1,000 per corpse.
A team of “cutters” then went to work, removing anything that could be sold for medical transplant: skin, bones, tendons, ligaments, heart valves.
The group also forged and altered documents, making victims younger on paper, changing their names and causes of death. None of the harvested tissue was screened for disease.
“The activity engaged in by this funeral director was utterly repulsive,” said Essex County Prosecutor Paul Dow in a statement. “This defendant had no regard for the common decency owed to the victims and the victims’ loved ones.”
Finley is due to be sentenced on March 24 and the prosecution is seeking a five-year prison sentence.
Last month, authorities permanently revoked his funeral license.
[Based on reports by The Star-Ledger and newsday.com.]
Calvin Palmer's Weblog 