Together with her mother
Undertaker sells dead body parts – 20 years in prison
The two women sold body parts using fake donation forms (icon image).
ve tba, dpa, Rolf Vennenbernd
Jan 4, 2023 @ 5:21pm
It sounds too macabre to be true: the Montrose, Colorado funeral home owner and her mother have been selling body parts to companies for years. A court sentenced Megan Hess (46) and Shirly Koch (69) to 20 and 15 years in prison, respectively, as the BBC reports.
Whole bodies sold to corporations
Between 2010 and 2018, the women dissected around 560 corpses and sold body parts to companies that train doctors. Little did the companies know that the two were trading illegally. In some cases, whole bodies were sold, the prosecutor said.
Megan Hess charged loved ones up to $1,000 for cremations that never happened. Through another company she owns, she sold the arms, legs and heads of the dead – without consent and using fake donation forms.
Colorado undertaker mixed up ashes of dead
Relatives of cremated deceased later learned that they had received back ashes mixed with other people’s remains. Judge Christine Arguello spoke of the “most emotionally exhausting case I have ever experienced on the bench”. She ordered the convicted women to be taken to prison immediately. (bst)