Swede steals mother’s dead body

The man, who lives in southern Sweden, had cared for his mother until her death. After she passed, in the winter of last year, he had difficulty deciding where she would be buried. In Sweden, the deceased should be buried within a month. When the man’s decision was delayed, the social services said he had to make a decision soon. The man then decided to bury his mother in Vittinge church in Heby municipality. This was reported by Swedish daily Dagen.

When the funeral contractors were to pick up the coffin at the man’s home, they agreed that the 55-year-old would have 20 minutes to say goodbye to his mother in seclusion in his hall.

When the funeral directors took out the coffin and left, they felt that not everything was right. Among other things, they noticed some scratches on the coffin. They therefore stopped and opened the coffin. In it lay three sacks filled with sand.

It turned out that the man had replaced the coffin. With a specially built cart, he had transported the coffin with his dead mother and placed it in his garden with a tarp over it. He then replaced the casket in the hall with an identical one.

“There is not in one’s mindset that someone should deceive one on something like this”, says the funeral contractor to Swedish broadcaster SVT.

When the coffin in the garden was located, health officials took care of the man. During the trial, the man said that he had wanted a few days extra to decide on the final burial site. The man has now been sentenced to a fine for violating the peace.

The funeral director is very taken by the whole story. “It is heavy; there is nothing I can believe”, she said to SVT. “I want to make it disappear as soon as possible.”