A South Carolina funeral home has been ordered shut down for cutting off a man’s legs so that his body would fit into a coffin.
The state’s Funeral Board last month revoked the license of Cave Funeral Home in Allendale after its owner, Michael Cave, admitted to cutting off the legs of 6-foot-7-inch James Hines five years ago. Today, a state judge upheld that ruling, according to the Associated Press.
Hines’ family was not told of the illegal procedure, though word quickly spread in the small town 75 miles southwest of Columbia.
In April, Hine’s wife, Ann, told Qcitymetro.com that the hardest part of the ordeal was watching her children endure taunts and whispers from other children.
“It started my grieving all over again,” she said. “It caused my children grief all over again. And my middle son, he’s just torn to pieces.”
Ann Hines said the funeral home eventually paid her to settle a lawsuit. The amount was never disclosed.
