After police discovered 31 decomposing bodies and 17 cremains in an Indiana funeral home, the director pleaded guilty to 43 counts of felony theft Friday. Last July, authorities first investigated the Lankford Funeral Home and Family Center after the county coroner’s office alerted officials of a funky smell coming from the building. There were multiple unrefrigerated and rotting bodies—some several months old—in the funeral home, AP News reported. Originally charged with a whopping 86 counts of theft and one count of corrupt business influence, funeral director Randy Lankford will now pay up $46,000 to 53 families and spend four years behind bars with another eight in home detention. But the legal battle is not over. A couple is suing Lankford for keeping their daughter’s decomposing body in the funeral home despite sending them a plastic box of her supposed remains, which is only one of several lawsuits against the director, according to NBC News. Lankford and his lawyer did not respond to requests for comment from NBC.
