Woman Sues Tennessee Funeral Home After Allegedly Receiving Husband's Belongings Covered in Brain Matter
A lawsuit claims a Tennessee woman discovered brain matter on her late husband's clothes after he was cremated.
A Tennessee woman is suing a funeral home for $2.2 million, alleging she received her late husband’s belongings covered in brain matter following his cremation. Sheila McGilvrey of Blountville claims that in September of last year, a week after her husband, Richard Pretzeus, died by suicide, she was given his clothing in a brown sack stamped with the word “clothing.”
Upon opening the sack, McGilvrey discovered a white plastic trash bag containing what she described as “chunks of brain” and a “sticky bodily fluid” on top of her husband’s clothes. She reported feeling faint and her son subsequently disposed of the bag in a fire pit. McGilvrey stated the discovery was “mind-blowing” and difficult to process.
McGilvrey contacted several agencies, including the National Association of Medical Examiners (N.A.M.E.), which she said suggested the error was an oversight by the medical examiner. The lawsuit alleges that the incident caused McGilvrey and her son “severe emotional distress and suffering.”
The autopsy of Pretzeus was performed by the William L. Jenkins Forensic Center, associated with East Tennessee State University, which provides forensic autopsy services in Sullivan County. It remains unclear who the official medical examiner was.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation reportedly reviewed the incident but found no criminal wrongdoing, according to Sullivan County District Attorney Barry Staubus. Weaver Funeral Home and McGilvrey declined to comment on the lawsuit. N.A.M.E., the Sullivan County Medical Examiner’s Office, and the William L. Jenkins Forensic Center have not yet responded to requests for comment.