Sicilian authorities announced on Monday the arrest of a former gravedigger and the investigation of 18 others for allegedly reselling burial plots by removing the bodies already buried in them. The former gravedigger’s assistant was also arrested in connection with the 2023 investigation for suspected corruption and bribery in Trapani, on the western coast of the Italian island.
Three funeral parlors were prohibited from operating in the city due to delays and complaints from locals regarding the cemetery. The police found that the municipal gravedigger obstructed an outside company hired to manage burial services, instead collaborating with three mortuaries to conduct burials, exhumations, and transfers of remains in exchange for a cut of the profits.
The police released surveillance footage showing the arrests and the ongoing investigation. The former gravedigger was accused of orchestrating the removal of bodies to resell burial plots, manipulating burial procedures for monetary gain, and engaging in other illicit activities such as tampering with private burial chapels and stealing valuables from the deceased.
The investigation documented 25 cases, including instances of corruption involving private citizens who allegedly paid for expedited burial services. A medical examiner is also suspected of aiding the undertaker by falsifying decomposition reports.
Authorities highlighted the infiltration of mafia influence in cemeteries and funeral services in Italy, with corrupt officials sometimes colluding with criminal organizations. The case in Trapani is reminiscent of a similar scandal in Tropea, Calabria, where a former cemetery custodian and his son were sentenced for operating a “cemetery of horrors,” involving the removal and disposal of decomposing bodies to make room for new burials.
Prosecutors revealed that the scheme had been ongoing for years. The Savannah Bananas draw large crowds with their unique take on baseball, as featured on 60 Minutes. Retired Americans are broadening their horizons by moving abroad. Last week was marked by President Trump’s tumultuous tariff decisions.
