JEFFERSONVILLE, Ind. — The director of an Indiana funeral property wherever 31 decomposing bodies and publish-cremation continues to be of 17 many others ended up identified past year pleaded responsible Friday to felony theft fees.
Randy Lankford, proprietor of Lankford Funeral Household and Spouse and children Center, was charged with more than 40 counts of felony theft for failing to complete the funeral providers he was compensated for.
Police in Jeffersonville, a southern Indiana city of about 50,000 citizens, commenced investigating the funeral household in early July immediately after a report of a strong odor coming from the building, police claimed then. The unrefrigerated bodies were being in several states of decomposition, and law enforcement alleged the longest experienced been saved there given that March 2022.
Decide N. Lisa Glickfield offered a 12-calendar year sentence, four years as an executed sentence and 8 years on household incarceration. He was launched released to dwelling incarceration on Friday. The phrases of Lankford’s offer waive the 50-calendar year-old’s ideal to attraction the a lot more than 40 counts of felony theft fees he confronted.
Beforehand:What to know about the discovery of 31 decomposing bodies in Indiana funeral house
Lankford was requested to pay restitution to 53 family members, totaling $46,000. His sentencing is set for 9 a.m. on June 23. Victims’ family members customers will be permitted to share ready statements, and they can file contingent promises for restitution of up to $1,000.
Clark County direct prosecutor Jeremy Mull said the extensive variety of prices in opposition to Lankford and present courtroom backups courting back again to the COVID-19 pandemic complicated the approach. Mull feels that the state’s shift to eliminate about fifty percent of the counts will grant the most quick sort of reduction.
“We wished to get justice for these people,” he claimed.
Cynthia Cape of Louisville used Lankford’s services for arrangements for her partner Sam Battaglia Jr. A yr to the day of his April 22, 2022 death, she gained his cremated ashes following DNA testing induced painstaking delays.
Just after her 1st court practical experience with Lankford in the home, she claimed she was upset he will get home incarceration but acknowledged the modest victory in having her husband’s continues to be.
“This just submitted for me how tricky this can truly be,” Cape stated.
Derrick Kessinger had three loved ones — his father Mickey Kessinger, fiancée Aierell Barton and her father Richard Barton — in the care of Lankford’s funeral home. Despite the fact that he was stunned when he read the terms of the plea and indifferent to the restitution revenue, the father of two youthful sons explained he felt reduction in the process coming to an close.
Contributing: The Linked Push
