To put it mildly, Roy Williams is a man in a lot of trouble – as he should be. According to an article in the St. Louis Post Dispatch. Williams, now a former mortician, is accused of shoddy embalming and fraud. Williams, over the last 20 months, has also been stripped of his business and professional licenses, the newspaper article says.
Williams’ funeral home in Alton, Missouri, first drew attention in October 2005 when the family of Lloyd White complained that the man had “mishandled White’s remains.” The family told police that White was not wearing the clothes the family had brought for him to be buried in and that his body was placed inside the casket, wrapped in nothing but a bloody sheet.
Then, last June, Williams was sued by a casket selling company alleging that Williams hadn’t paid the $3,000 he owed them. A judge in August ordered Williams to pay the amount with interest after he never responded to the suit. Then this month, the Illinois Comptroller’s Office filed a petition in Madison County Circuit Court seeking to appoint a temporary administrator to recoup some of the money paid by clients to Williams, the newspaper article said.
Williams has not only denied all wrong-doing, but strangely enough, is really hard to get a hold of. I wonder why. According to the newspaper, the state’s Division of Professional Regulation pulled his funeral director and embalming license about five months ago because of “unprofessional conduct, incompetence and violation of regulations.” The state comptroller’s office was able to revoke his license to sell pre-arranged funerals about a year ago. Several former clients have been named in the comptroller’s May 9 court filing.
Among them is Anita Weatherspoon of Alton, who claimed Williams double-billed her for her father’s services and also billed the family for services he did not provide. She also accused Williams of shoddy embalming and said there were “smells emanating” from the body.
If these allegations are true (and I suspect they are), Williams must be prosecuted in civil and criminal court. He is both guilty of a crime and liable to the families he has apparently defrauded. There are many funeral home operators in this country like Williams who take advantage of grieving families at their most vulnerable time instead of comforting them.
If you’ve had such an experience, call me, John Bisnar of Bisnar Chase Personal Injury Attorneys – 1-800-259-6373, for a free and completely confidential consultation. Busting fraudulent business and the people who run them is very rewarding.