Philadelphia – Three funeral directors sold hundreds of bodies to a former oral surgeon who allegedly collected the bones, tissue and skin from the corpses to be used in transplants, a grand jury charged Thursday after a 16-month investigation.
The 244 bodies fetched about $1,000 each, the grand jury found, with the body parts being transplanted in unsuspecting medical patients worldwide.
Michael Mastromarino, who operated the now-defunct Biomedical Tissue Services of Fort Lee, N.J., ran the scheme with help from a team of “cutters” who stole the body parts, authorities said. He has been fighting charges in New York, where seven funeral directors have pleaded guilty, including one whose funeral home allegedly removed parts from the body of the late “Masterpiece Theatre” host Alistair Cooke.
Suspect sought in killing of 2 armored-car guards
Philadelphia – Two armored-car guards were shot and killed by a robber as they removed deposits from a bank ATM in a brazen daylight
heist Thursday, setting off a sweeping search for the killer that shut down a nearby mall and several schools.
After hours of searching, authorities had few leads and only a sketchy description of the gunman, who police said approached the guards and fired without saying a word.
Police Commissioner Sylvester Johnson said surveillance tape showed the robber getting out of his car and putting on gloves before killing William Widmaier, 65, and Joseph Alullo, 54.
Autopsies show firefighters who died in blaze were under influence
Boston – Autopsies on two Boston firefighters who were killed Aug. 29 while battling a restaurant blaze revealed that one had a blood-alcohol content more than three times the threshold for drunken driving and the other had cocaine in his system, The Boston Globe and The Boston Herald reported Thursday.
The autopsies showed that Paul Cahill had a blood-alcohol level of 0.27 percent and Warren Payne had traces of cocaine in his system, the papers reported. Autopsy results are not public records in Massachusetts.
Mayor Thomas Menino on Thursday called for an independent review of fire department procedures regarding drug and alcohol use.
Staffer: Lawmaker’s child downloaded topless photo
Columbus, Ohio – The image of a topless woman that popped up during a state legislator’s computer presentation to a high school class had been downloaded by a child of the lawmaker, a state House staffer said Thursday.
The image of a topless woman was projected after Rep. Matthew Barrett inserted a data memory stick into the computer for a lecture on how a bill becomes a law.
Concourse evacuated after gun found
Tucson – A loaded handgun was found in a men’s room beyond a security checkpoint at Tucson International Airport, leading to a brief evacuation of the concourse, federal officials said.
Authorities were investigating who owned the gun.
