Burr Oak control given back to owners

ALSIP, Ill., Sept. 16 (UPI) -- The man put in charge of a suburban Chicago cemetery in the wake of a graverobbing scandal must turn the facility back to its bankrupt owners, a judge says.

Roman Szabelski of Catholic Cemeteries, a branch of the Archdiocese of Chicago, says that under a Tuesday ruling by a bankruptcy judge he must hand back the keys of the now-closed Burr Oak Cemetery to Perpetua Inc., which has been accused of digging up about 300 graves in the historic black cemetery and reselling plots for profit, the Chicago SouthtownStar reported.

Szabelski was placed in charge of Burr Oak by a judge after Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart brought criminal charges against four Perpetua employees, ranging from theft to dismembering a body, the newspaper said.

"I feel bad for the families who wanted to have access to Burr Oak Cemetery," he told the SouthtownStar. "I feel I was making steps in that direction."

Szabelski told the newspaper he had planned to begin reburying bodies as soon as this week and to reopen the facility soon thereafter, but that those plans had been dashed by the bankruptcy ruling.