Morbid Crimes

It used to be taboo to mess around with the dead. Not letting them rest in peace was sure to lead to your undoing or at least a good ghost story. This week Somerset County Police have arrested three boys with breaking into several graves at a Crisfield Maryland's Asbury Church cemetery, tampering with the remains inside. What would behoove a group of boys to do that is beyond me.

On Saturday, March 24, troopers with the Maryland State Police responded to a reported grave desecration at Asbury Cemetery at Lawsonia in Crisfield , the Somerset Bureau of Investigation said. Their case revealed that someone had broken open the vaults from several graves and the remains were removed and disassembled. Investigators began cataloging the damaged gravesites- some dating back to the 1800s- as well as collecting the remains for safekeeping.

They found that not all the bodies were intact. The police have bones like femurs but they do not know to which bodies they belong.

"A lot of these graves are not identified," said Maryland State Police Sgt. Chuck Salvas. "There are no headstones, there are no plates so we really do not know who they are."

Crisfield's Bradshaw Funeral Home have been assisting investigators. Bradshaw's is housing the remains until further arrangements can be made.

Several suspects were identified and police arrested three boys from the Crisfield area. They have been charged with grave desecration and property destruction. They are all minors and their names have not been released. The police said the boys confessed to going to the cemetery with hammers and breaking into the graves in order to steal jewelry.

Some of those graves belong to war veterans, Salvas said . "A lot of these men fought and possibly died for our country and this is the respect that they've been given," he said. "I mean, look, this is a mess."

The boys are responsible for at least four of the tampered graves. "They admit to four," Salvas said. "We believe they did at least 10 to 12." The police say the best punishment would be community service to have them return to the cemetery to clean it up and make repairs.

Cemetery crimes have been making news lately. Including the theft of 400 bronze plaques stolen from a commemorative wall at Purewa Cemetery, in Aukland, New Zealand.

Valued at about $300,000, the plaques would have taken some time for the thieves to remove from the wall. Police are investigating and seeking the help of any scrap metal dealers who have been approached with an offer of cheap bronze.

Let's hope a stint in jail is the only curse these grave robbers have invoked upon themselves.