Police: Undertakers allowed bodies to dissolve and decompose

In Texas, two funeral home directors have been charged with multiple felonies due to their involvement with a dozen decomposing bodies found in conditions described as “very dirty, hot,” and “not sanitary,” with one body in such an advanced state of decay that it was considered “largely liquified.”

Court documents reviewed by Law&Crime indicate that Michael Richardson and Gayle Elaine Bell were arrested last week, each facing three charges of abuse of a corpse.

As detailed in a probable cause affidavit, Houston Police Department officers responded on April 11 to a report by a woman suspecting abuse of a corpse at Richardson Mortuary located in the 3200 block of Brookfield Drive. The woman reported that her mother had passed away on March 31, and she had paid Richardson over $17,000 for body preparation and funeral arrangements.

The affidavit states that the victim met with Richardson on March 31, who identified himself as the “funeral director.” He took charge of her mother’s body at Richardson Mortuary, promising it would remain there.

Approaching the date of the mother’s funeral on April 12, the victim attempted several times to meet with Richardson and his staff at the funeral home to deliver clothes for her mother, but they allegedly “refused to meet her.”

The victim decided to take matters into her own hands and went to the funeral home on April 11, where she made a shocking discovery.

According to the affidavit, “[The victim] said she discovered her deceased mother in a coffin infested with bugs and significantly decayed.” She noted “multiple decomposing bodies” within the warm building. The building was described as open to the elements, filthy, excessively hot, unsanitary, undergoing construction, and reeking of decomposition. “[The victim] stated she was horrified and promptly called her brother and the police. [The victim’s] brother arrived, recorded the interior conditions, and shared footage on social media showing the deplorable state of Richardson Mortuary and the numerous decomposing bodies.”

The video appears to show more than a dozen caskets strewn about the building amid trash, tools, and random pieces of furniture due to the building being under construction. One room appeared to have multiple visible bodies on gurneys — some covered with blankets, some completely out in the open. Police and multiple witnesses said the entire building was completely opened to the elements due to the construction.

Police said the video went viral and resulted in the families of the deceased and community members gathering outside of the establishment as another company was hired to transport the bodies to a sanitary facility. The owner of that facility also provided a statement to police.

“[The witness] said he found twelve decedents stored at Richardson Mortuary,” the affidavit says. “[The witness] said the building was under construction, dirty, and the air conditioner was not working. [He] said the decedents were in various stages of decomposition including one decedent that was largely liquified. Witness Jackson said the decedents were not in cold storage but stored in a dirty, hot room.”

The witness told authorities he still has not been paid by Richardson or Bell for transporting and storing the bodies.

A list of the decedents was recovered from the premises, with one deceased female listed as “body liquified.”

The Texas Funeral Services Commission on April 14 issued a cease and desist order for Richardson Mortuary which said the establishment “engaged in fraudulent, unprofessional, or deceptive conduct in providing funeral services or merchandise to a customer and engaged in dishonest conduct, willful conduct or negligence in the practice of embalming or funeral directing that is likely to or does deceive, defraud, or otherwise injure the public.”

Richardson and Bell were not being held in detention as of Tuesday. Prosecutors had requested bond for both defendants be set at $5,000. The defendants are scheduled to appear in Harris County Circuit Court on Oct. 15, records show.