Jul 23, 2009 6:24 pm US/Central
1 Suspect In Burr Oak Scandal Bailed Out Of Jail
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
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Gravedigger Maurice Dailey, 59, ran the back hoe.
Cook County Sheriff's Department
Officials say the wife of one of the four former cemetery employees accused of digging up and dumping hundreds of bodies in a scheme to resell plots has posted bail for her husband's release from jail.
The Cook County Sheriff's Department says the wife of Maurice Dailey arrived at the county jail with $20,000, the necessary 10 percent of his $200,000 bond, to secure his release.
The 61-year-old Dailey left the Cook County Jail around 6 p.m. on Thursday. CBS 2'S Mike Puccinelli reports that he left without answering any questions from the media.
The other three suspects remain in custody.
Dailey who is one of three former gravediggers at Burr Oak Cemetery in Alsip charged along with a former cemetery manager with dismembering a body.
They are accused of selling existing deeds and plots to unsuspecting customers, digging up hundreds of corpses and dumping in a weeded area or double-stacking them in graves.
Meanwhile, the Cemetery Oversight Task Force had its first meeting. It formed in response to the events at Burr Oak Cemetery and its members are debating regulatory oversight over cemeteries to prevent situations like this from happening in the future.
CBS 2's Kristyn Hartman reports that at the meeting, governor-appointed members, asked an expert questions so they could make some recommendations by September 15th.
Some people want stricter licensing guidelines for cemeteries but others think there are already enough regulations on the books.
That expert who testified said he didn't know what else might have been done to discover the grave unearthing, and body dumping that happened at Burr Oak Cemetery.
"As far as state's concerned...I don't know if they would have known the criminal act, doesn't make any difference," said Harvey Lapin, General Counsel for the Illinois Cemetery and Funeral Home Association.
He says the state has the power to sue registered companies, such as the one that runs Burr Oak Cemetery.
Rev. Jesse Jackson was also at the meeting. He talked about what he called the urgency of the Burr Oak situation. He says because the cemetery is closed, bodies for burial are stacking up and the poor have fewer options. He wants the taskforce to understand those issues, too.
CBS 2'S Kristyn Hartman and Mike Puccinelli and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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