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dollofvoodoo's blog: "Mindless Ramblings Of Me"

created on 07/31/2008  |  http://fubar.com/mindless-ramblings-of-me/b235648  |  3 followers

Day-to-day operation of the Burr Oak Cemetery has been wrested from the owners and turned over to the head of the Archdiocese of Chicago's Catholic Cemeteries.

During a Wednesday hearing, Cook County Circuit Court Judge Stuart Palmer OKd the appointment of Roman Szabelski, executive director of Catholic Cemeteries, to temporarily oversee the Alsip cemetery which is now a crime scene.

The move comes a week after four Burr Oak employees were arrested and accused of pocketing $300,000 by digging up old bodies, dumping them in a mass grave in the cemetery and reselling the old plots off the books.

With lawsuits piling up and cemetery owner Perpetua Inc. a no-show at both the 150-acre site and in court proceedings about the management - and the alleged mismanagement - of the cemetery, the judge moved quickly to put the cemetery in receivership.

Szabelski has extensive experience managing cemeteries: his agency operates 47 cemeteries in Cook and Lake counties, it handled 17,500 interments in 2008 and maintains more than 2.4 million gravesites.

Szabelski, who was out of town Wednesday, issued a statement to those whose loved ones' gravesites may have been desecrated.

"I wish to assure them that I will work diligently to see to the respectful interment of their loved ones' remains," Szabelski said. He also vowed to communicate with the court and families about his progress.

His appointment was suggested during Wednesday's hearing by county and state government agencies involved in investigating the alleged crime. Attorneys representing the families of loved ones suing the cemetery agreed to the appointment.

What remained unclear is how Szabelski might be paid, but his attorney says he's not concerned about that.

"We're hoping ultimately it doesn't result in work for no pay," said attorney James Geoly. "But if it happens that way, it's a risk he's willing to take."

Also Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush sent a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder asking the U.S. Justice Department to open a federal criminal investigation and another to the the Federal Trade Commission asking officials to review regulations and laws looking for violations relating to "the commission of these horrific acts."

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