The Nation - News from Oct. 21, 1988

Deputies have opened 25 graves in a two-state cemetery scandal, discovering trash and bodies without coffins, and jailers put the undertaker into an isolation cell for protection from outraged families. Family members have wailed in grief and anger as the bodies of their loved ones were uncovered during the last two weeks in Tennessee and Kentucky in the investigation into burials by Bobby Wilks, who is charged with fraud. “I could very easily have him killed. All it would take is one phone call,” Mary Masterson said as the grave of her mother, Gladys Birdwell Clubbs, was opened. “She’s not a garbage disposal.” Deputies found two embalming fluid bottles and two soft drink bottles inside the grave on the grounds of Owen’s Chapel United Methodist Church near Springfield, Tenn. One body was found wrapped only in a rug, and Tuesday, the remains of a stillborn girl were found buried about a foot deep in a blue plastic bag.