Brothers Get Prison In Burr Oak Grave Scandal
(STMW) -- Two former Burr Oak Cemetery workers found guilty of desecrating bodies at the historic southwest suburban cemetery were both sentenced to prison Friday.
Brothers Keith Nicks, 51; and Terrence Nicks, 44, were convicted by separate juries of desecration of human remains, removal of human remains, and removal of gravestones or markers, the Sun-Times reported previously.
Judge Joan O'Brien sentenced Keith Nicks to six years and Terrance Nicks to three during a hearing Friday at the Bridgeview courthouse, the Cook County state's attorney's office said.
Keith Nicks, grounds foreman for the Alsip cemetery, often guided his dump-truck-driving sibling Terrence Nicks and backhoe operator Maurice Dailey to illegally double-stack graves and throw human remains on a mound of debris in the back of the cemetery, prosecutors said during the brothers' trials in February.
The headstones and grave markers of the original deceased buried at the site were broken or damaged, making it nearly impossible for visitors to locate the final resting place of loved ones, prosecutors said. Some were even moved to dumping areas on the cemetery grounds.
"These crimes shocked the conscience of all of our communities and demonstrated the cruel lengths that people will resort to for financial gain," State's Attorney Anita Alvarez said in a prepared statement.
"We hope that these sentences will bring some measure of justice to the families of the loved ones who were so violated and betrayed by these heinous acts at Burr Oak Cemetery."
Cemetery manger Carolyn Towns, 54, is serving a 12-year sentence after pleading guilty to her role in the gruesome plot, the Sun-Times reported. Dailey, 64, is awaiting trial.
(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2015. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
