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Show The Salt Lake Tribune C6 UTAH/THE WEST | ‘Tuesday, February19, 2002 _ Funeral Director Chargediin Scam Crematorium vearlonginvestigationinto the business practices of three owner accused of selling bodyparts Lake remains he was or cremate, offi Michael Francis Brown, 42. booked on suspicionof 154 mbezzlement and of human remains wo counts of falsifying ertificates horities allege Brown earned more than $400,000 from the sale of human remains and body parts to mortuaries and medical research centers. The body parts were used in scien tific studies and to help morti cians practice their embalming skills, Riverside County deputy listrict attorney Karen conn am said victed, Brown could be ced to more than 100 ars in state prison, authori ties said. attorney could not be reached for com: Employees of the busi ness also declined to comment othe than to say “business as usual” was going on. The arrest culminated a Sgt. Shelley Kenned: h. Riverside County Sh partment spokeswoman. During subsequent months, investigators talked to Brown's contacts and many a of suspected victims, Kennedy Smithsaid. Riverside County prosecutors reviewed the evidence, and an arrest warrant was issued Wednesday, shesaid. Brown was takeninto cus: tody without incident outside his business about 11 a.m. Thursday. He was being held in the Southwest Detention Cen. ter in French Valley in lieu of $400,000 bail. Kennedy-Smith said Brown hada contract with Riverside Countyto buryor cremate the rem ofindigent residents. accident Jan. 2. He was 75. the _homeless, Bronx-born Matusow moved to Glenwood, Utah, in a long-runningfeud. 1996. He went by the first name Job, referring, he said, providerto the rural poor and producer of public-access ca ble television. The TV ven. Temecula resident Nancy Brennersaid. Brenner's mother died ities said. Gorham and prosethorities have identified 39 named victims and 42 others identified only by numbers. Prosecutors believe other re- te his manytravails, includ- ing a conviction for perjury. ness gracious. Oh, my God,” Tuesday, and she said she expected to worryall nightafter she learned of Brown’s arrest Thursday. This morning, “we have to pick up her remains,” Brennersaid. health-care ture used donated equipment in a 25-year-old school bus from which he operated Matusowidentified hundreds of “communists” before Congress, and his testimony helped send a numberof people to jail during the anticommunist scare propagated bySen. Joseph McCarthy. Sevier County Access Television. Matusowwasborn Jewish. but converted to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Matusowsaid he had 10 failed marriages and In 1955, Matusowadmitted to lying in the congressional hearings, detailing his false- adopted 10disabled children. Heis survived byhis 1th wife, Irene, and their daugh- hoods in the book False ter, Susan mains were shipped out of the area and cannotbe identified at all. * Trust o® Confidence Authorities are alleging the misconduct took place over 12 months between February2000 and February 2001. Kevin Flanagan, a spokes- *® Experience manforthe state’s Funeral and Cemetery Board, said the % |) agencyhas helped law officers in the continuing investiga- tion. Brown also faces disciplinary actions from licensing authoritiesif convicted. available Thursday. Some of the alleged violations resulted from Brown's contract with the county, while others came from private par- Flanagansaid funeral directors are bound by“simple human decency” to follow the The embezzlement charges stem from allegations that Brown didnot carry out terms that the disgruntled employee of his contract with the county or with private parties, authorcutor Vicki Hightower said au- After prison, Matusowre invented himself in such hu manitarian roles as entertainer of children, feeder of contacted a former business partner with whom Brown had KEVIN FLANAGAN Funeral and Cemetery Board Termsof the contract were not ties or other mortuaries, law officers said. Witness. He served 4 years ina federal prison. them to launch an investigation against him. He speculated Harvey Marshal Matusow, better known as “CockyBoo the Clown”to residents of Sevier County,died Jan. 17 at his home in Claremont, N.H., after being injured in an auto employee was the “confidential informant”that police said led Newsof Brown's arrestleft some of his recent customers stunned. “Oh, my gosh. Oh, my good- ers also seized numerousbusiness recordsat that time, said is suspected of sell his “Anytime a funeral director takes a body, it’s about showing respectto the decease merous body parts. Law offic- al home and crematorium and Pacific Family Funeral Homeand BioTech Anatomical. nesses in February, removing a srown Pacific Cremation Care Inc., more than 80cadavers and nu Ik PRESS ENTERPRISE ment. owned by Brown companies Authorities raided the busi BY JOE VARGO and SANDY STOKES who Elsinore Colorful Character Harvey Matusow Dies * $10,000 Minimum * FDIC Insured * No Fees or Commissions * Fixed Term & Yield * Subject to Availability wishes of survivors. “Anytime a funeral director takesa body, it’s about showing respect to the deceased,” Flanagan said. Last year, Brown said he suspected that a former THE r APY | 12 MONTH CD* Ask aboutour casy transfer and rollover programs with HIGHERYIELDSfor IRA, 401K and 403B’s. Orem Office Salt Lake City Office 591 West 800 North 5818 South 900 East, Suite 100 (801) 764-0898 a Lol (801) 268-6274 SOUVENIR! 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