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Greene County man charged with stealing van with three cadavers inside

By Mark Hofmann mhofmann@heraldstandard.Com 2 min read

Editor’s note: This article was updated to note that Wilbert Funeral Services Inc. is a cremation facility.

A warrant has been issued for a Dilliner man after he allegedly stole a van from a cremation facility with three cadavers inside.

Charges were filed against William Russell Burghy, 36, before Greene County Magisterial District Judge David Curt Balint on Monday.

He was charged with burglary, criminal trespass, theft by unlawful taking, receiving stolen property, disorderly conduct, operating a vehicle with a suspended or revoked license and three counts of abuse of a corpse.

Police said an employee with Wilbert Funeral Services Inc. reported that a van containing three human cadavers had been stolen from the business’s garage along Mechanic Street in Perry Township between 4 p.m. May 9 and 8 a.m. May 10.

The garage had been secured and locked on the previous day, but when the discovery was made, the main door was unlocked and the garage door was open, according to court paperwork.

The van was later located by its GPS tracking unit and was found abandoned at BFS Foods along Gas Company Road in Perry Township with all its known contents accounted for.

Surveillance footage showed Burghy driving the van as well as entering and exiting the stolen vehicle.

Another employee at the cremation facility told police that he discovered his key to the main door of the garage was missing as well as a company credit card and a personal access device card and added that Burghy was at his home the previous day.

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