Deceased’s Family Bent Out Of Shape Sues Mortuary Because Coffin Far Too Short For Lanky Husband

They said he would rest in peace.

But when Josie Freeman of Sun Valley, a Los Angeles suburb, took one final look at her 6-foot-9-inch husband in a too-small coffin, she was horrified.

Freeman and her family now are suing the Los-Angeles based Angelus Funeral Home, contending that the manager had assured her an extra-long casket was used to accommodate her extra-tall husband.

“She saw her husband’s body lying in the casket with his knees bent to approximately a 45-degree angle, his legs crossed and his feet pushed up,” according to the lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court.

The case was back in court Monday as the Freemans’ attorney and the attorney for Angelus battled over which evidence should be shared.

The Freemans contend that the funeral home committed fraud, breach of contract and infliction of emotional distress. The next hearing is set for June 11.

According to the lawsuit, Clarence Freeman died of lymphoma Valentine’s Day.

His wife and mother found that other funeral homes couldn’t provide a large enough casket for the 39-year-old technician who worked for the Family Channel. While shopping for the right coffin, the family was warned that some morticians “break, bend, fold, cut or otherwise disfigure the legs of tall decedents so as to force … decedents to fit into a standard-sized casket … too short to permit the decedent to rest and recline with their legs straight out in front of them.”

Eventually the family was referred to Angelus Funeral Home.

The Freemans contend the funeral home’s manager boasted that they prepared the body of Bill Cosby’s son Ennis Cosby for burial and placed him in an extra-long casket. Clarence Freeman’s body, they said, would be handled in the same way.

The family paid more than $5,000 for the coffin and other preparations, had a viewing of the body at Angelus and then shipped it to the Chicago area for funeral and burial near Freeman’s mother’s home.

Following the funeral service in Illinois, Josie Freeman took a close look in the coffin. Shocked, she told her mother-in-law, who could not bear to look.

Clarence Freeman’s young daughter saw a picture of her father’s legs and ankles, criss-crossed in the coffin, and according to documents, she asked, “Mommy, why are daddy’s legs like that?”

The lawsuit didn’t say whether Clarence Freeman was placed in another, longer casket.