Jul 9, 2009 5:35 pm US/Central
Closer Look At Suspects In Cemetery Resale Scheme
ALSIP, Ill. (CBS) ―
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Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart (right) speaks with investigators at Burr Oak Cemetery July 8, 2009 in Alsip. Police suspect around 300 graves could have been dug up in the historic cemetery.
Scott Olson/Getty Images
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Gravedigger Maurice Dailey, 59, ran the back hoe.
Cook County Sheriff's Department
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Keith Nicks' brother, 39-year-old gravedigger Terrence Nicks, ran the dump truck.
Cook County Sheriff's Department
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Gravedigger Keith Nicks, 45, was the foreman.
Cook County Sheriff's Department
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Carolyn Towns, 49, is office manager of the cemetery. She allegedly sent her gravediggers out to unearth and dump bodies as she resold burial plots and pocketed the money. She also allegedly collected money for an Emmett Till Historical Museum, but pockete
Cook County Sheriff's Department
Four people are accused of digging up as many as 300 graves and dumping corpses to re-sell plots at Burr Oak Cemetery in Alsip. Charges were announced Thursday morning, leaving many people wondering who could do such a thing.
Bond was set at $200,000 for brothers Terrence and Keith Nicks and Maurice Dailey, and $250,000 for Carolyn Towns.
Towns is being held at the Cermak Hospital Psychiatric Unit. Keith Nicks is being held in a medical unit due to a previous injury. Terrance Nicks and Dailey are being held in maximum security. All four are being held in protective custody, which means they are confined to solitary cells.
Prosecutors called their actions cold and calculating with total disregard for the human soul.
Towns allegedly would take cash payments from families seeking burial, and destroy the paperwork. She'd then order Keith Nicks, Terrence Nicks and Dailey to make room for the new body by exhuming a corpse and disposing of it in a rear lot called "the dump area." The three men were compensated with overtime payments, authorities allege.
After hearing the charges leveled against her, Towns' family members walked out of court confused and angry. One older woman had to be consoled just outside the bond court hearing room.
Both Towns' family and her attorney say the charges against her are not true.
"Undoubtedly someone is making false statements about my client," said Towns' attorney, Steven Watkins. "We maintain her innocence and say she will be acquitted of the charges."
Towns is 49 years old and was the cemetery's former manager. She also administered the cemetery's Emmet Till Fund, which Dart said she stole from as well.
She is a member of the First Mount Calvary Baptist Church. Records show she has filed for bankruptcy in the past and been subject to several federal tax liens.
Robbins resident Maurice Dailey, 59, worked at Burr Oak for 28 years operating a back hoe.
Dailey's daughters say he was a union steward, a faithful worker and an honest man.
Forty-five-year old Keith Nicks of Chicago was promoted to foreman by Towns five years ago. He has a series of arrests, but no convictions, dating back to 1988 for charges ranging from assault to criminal damage to property.
His brother, 39-year-old Terrence Nicks, also lives in Chicago and drove the cemetery dump truck.
The four face up to 30 years in prison for crimes against the living and the dead.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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