Family sues mortuary after finding another man’s body in dad’s casket

SEATTLE – When the family of Jerry Moon opened his casket for their final goodbyes two years ago, they were shocked to find a stranger in his place.

The Kelso, Washington, funeral home that handled Moon’s funeral had inadvertently switched his body with that of another man who had died in the same hospice on the same day.

But even worse than that mistake were the efforts of mortuary employees to convince Moon’s loved ones that they were wrong and that “people look different in death,” said attorney Shawn Briggs, who filed a lawsuit Tuesday on behalf of Moon’s family.

The suit for unspecified damages claims that Brown Mortuary Service was negligent in the handling of Moon’s body. The suit also claims the company tried to cover up its mistake.

The mortuary is part of a funeral service chain owned by the Texas-based Service Corp. International. Representative Kim Tarleton said Tuesday that the corporation could not comment because of the pending litigation, the Associated Press reported.

Sixteen years before his death, Moon had paid $4,655 to Brown Mortuary Service for a guaranteed funeral package that would include a casket, embalming and the use of a hearse, as well as memorial and graveside services, the suit claims.

Moon, 72, of Castle Rock, died at a hospice in Longview on Oct. 13, 2013.

Another man, 97-year-old Robert Petitclerc, of Kelso, died that same day in the same hospice, according to the suit.

Dahl McVicker Funeral Home picked up the bodies of Moon and Petitclerc. Their bodies were not immediately labeled and an employee of Dahl McVicker later placed the wrong label on each man, the suit claims.

Another employee transported the mislabeled remains of Moon to another site for cremation. The mislabeled remains of Petitclerc were transported to Brown Mortuary Service in Chehalis for funeral preparations, AP reported.

According to Briggs, the original mistake was made by Dahl McVicker, but Brown Mortuary Service had several opportunities to catch and correct the error.

The state Department of Licensing said last year that Dahl McVicker would be fined $12,500 for the mistake, AP reported, but it was not immediately clear whether that had happened.

Petitclerc was a private man who wanted to be cremated, according to Briggs. Moon abhorred and “was terrified” of cremation, he said.

Nevertheless, Moon was cremated in Petitclerc’s place and Petitclerc was embalmed and dressed in Moon’s clothes, the suit says.

During Moon’s funeral Oct. 21, his family opened the casket and discovered the body of Petitclerc, who was 25 years older than Moon and had a full head of hair, according to the lawsuit. Moon was bald.

“This was a horrific experience for the Moon family when they were already devastated by the loss of their beloved husband and father,” said Briggs. “Following basic procedures at the funeral home would have prevented this from happening. But the attempted cover-up was even worse; they tried to disguise Mr. Petitclerc as Mr. Moon and bury him before anyone noticed.”

Representatives of Brown Mortuary Service – who had been provided with 60 pictures of Moon in the time leading up to the funeral – tried to convince Moon’s family that the body in the casket was Moon’s, the suit says.

Employees allegedly told Moon’s relatives that people “look different in death” and suggested that postmortem hair growth was possible, Briggs said.

Brown Mortuary Service refused to refund the bulk of the family’s money, the suit alleges.

In addition to the $4,665 Moon had prepaid, his widow was charged an additional $8,834, according to the suit. Briggs said it is not clear what the additional charges were for.

Briggs, who also represented Petitclerc’s family in a suit that ended with a settlement, said Moon’s family was ultimately given some remains that were alleged to be Moon’s, but they have “no confidence at all that they received the correct cremated remains.”

“Instead of being treated with dignity, our family was demeaned and denied the opportunity to honor my father and lay him to rest according to his wishes,” Moon’s son, Brian Moon, said in a statement.