Mortuary Techs Caught Head-Handed

This is really creepy, and extremely disturbing... but sadly, not that shocking. Mortuary technicians have been caught playing with the dead—and they even documented their deeds on Polaroid. According to the NY Post, the photos that have been released—allegedly by someone who was trying to blackmail the employees—were taken around 2004.

The paper spoke to 35-year-old Kaihl Brassfield, who is pictured here holding a severed head in the Heisman position, and he told them: "It was stupid. It was just the culture there. Everyone was doing it." He also claimed things changed and the workplace became more professional after the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner took over operations from the Health and Hospitals Corp.

Meanwhile, Brassfield—who has been out on disability while collecting $35K a year—has been suspended without pay. The ME's office is investigating the situation; Brassfield may be posing in the most disturbing photo, but he wasn't the only one partaking in the gruesome games. He says everyone, from cops to coroners at the Staten Island and Brooklyn morgues, participated.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Jen Carlson in News on February 15, 2010 11:25 AM

Comments [rss]

nyorker555

The story as presented doesnt entirely add up.

Why is only this one guy implicated by name and he is convieniently no longer actively employed there? Who is in the other photos? It sounds like this may have been an internal effort "released" to the press to get this one guy off the payroll. Meanwhile we hear that fooling around with body parts doesnt happen any more and everything's cleaned up now. Uh huh. Doesnt add up. There's a missing part of the story.

westernqueensland

we only pay the people who tend to our dead $35K? maybe if they got a living wage they'd take it more seriously.

pissflaps

weekend at bernies was on tv the other day...

robingee

Was the victim a decap? Or was there just a head? Yikes.

FJF

Just sick. I work with animals that I have to eventually sacrifice (for research purposes), and I would never think of doing this to a rat much less a human being.

Guest

craigslist ad: friendly yet serious mortuary technicians wanted for a date-unknown.

requirements:

1) will not play with the dead

2) will not have sex with the dead

3-100) repeat the above

Guest

'friendly yet serious' - i think the word i was looking for is 'dignified.'

123jump

He collects disability? Holy Schmeat! I guess because he holds human heads that he really doesn't deserve it! Is that the logic? I guess it's sorta like when you run a story that's not really a story (Patterson scandal) and then you keep making money by pretending you didn't do anything wrong. Gothamist you're an asshole. I'm going to go watch Fox news now. Or the 700 Club. Thanks for making society move closer to hell.

NannyState

Off to watch some talking heads are you?

Mordicai

When I was studying forensics we STUDIOUSLY made sure that stuff like this didn't happen, for precisely this reason. Still, a certain gallows humor atmosphere is due to pervade. I dunno-- dead people are not magic holy relics; I never could quite understand the superstition about dead bodies.

Snoopy

It's not superstition it's called respect.

starrygordon

Maybe, but for what, exactly? In theory there's nobody home any more -- the remains are junk. This is following the big religions like Christianity, Islam, and Buddhism, anyway.

What about those shows of plasticized, partly dissected humans? Is it all right because someone's charging money instead of just playing around?

S.D.

(sigh)

Idiots. You'd think in this day and age, they'd have a clue and realize *ANY* photo would eventually get out...

IMO, Their supervisor should be punished too.

Gnomie

I've said it before and I'll say it again: stop documenting your criminal activity! Idiots!

FranklinBluth

Med students of the days of yore did it: http://www.slate.com/id/2216761/pagenum/all/

NannyState

I just hope he put back the pretty girl's head that he took into the shower with him.

Guest

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXQcCC6zBIc

Guest

my appetite is gone... it's almost lunch. was going to have a ham sandwich... i don't even know if i can do pizza...

on the other hand, jameson sounds really good right now. yum.

NannyState

...And I bet he keeps the waterproof lip gloss in his locker.

nice job

my father does this for a living. back home there's a picture of him holding a human heart on our fridge.

it isn't malicious or insidious, it's just that when you're working every day with the horror of death with mangled and shot up corpses, the only way to process it and function is to be lighthearted about it.

no one would want to have to confront their own insignificant mortality every day.