Wayne County family files lawsuit claiming loved one was cremated before autopsy
From the WXYZ-TV Channel 7 Detroit website
The family of deceased Wayne County resident Richard Wahl has filed a lawsuit in the Wayne County Circuit Court against the owner of an autopsy company and a funeral home in Brownstown Township.
According to the family's attorney, Mr. Wahl was suspected to have died from mesothelioma, an asbestos-related form of cancer, and his family wanted proof. Relatives contracted with Shawn Parcells, owner of Topeka, Kansas-based National Autopsy Services, to have a licensed pathologist perform a complete autopsy on Mr. Wahl to determine the exact cause of death.
It is alleged that Parcells did not perform an autopsy and had Mr. Wahl’s body transported to Molnar Funeral Home, in Brownstown Township, where his cremation took place, the family's attorney stated in a release.
Parcells, of Leawood, Kansas, has no formal medical education, but worked as a pathology assistant for Missouri’s Jackson County Medical Examiner’s Office from 1996 to 2003. He then opened National Autopsy Services, in Topeka, Kansas, where he provided private autopsy services, charging an upfront fee of $3,000, plus expenses, for a full pathological study and cause of death diagnosis.
According to the attorney, an investigation revealed that Parcells is under indictment for falsely leading the Wahl family, and hundreds of others, to believe that they would receive autopsy reports performed by licensed pathologists…
The week of Dec. 14, 2020, [Sandberg Law Office, P.C. and] Ven Johnson Law, PLC, filed a civil suit in Wayne County Circuit Court seeking monetary damages against Parcells, his company, and the Molnar Funeral Home.
“Not only is this a blatant act of neglect, and preying on those who are grieving, Parcells has left our client, and hundreds of others, without medical proof as to the cause of death of their loved ones,” said attorney Sam Pietsch, of Ven Johnson Law. “The Wahls lost Richard and now have no chance of any financial compensation from a potential mesothelioma diagnosis.”
Read the full legal complaint below:
Richard Wahl Complaint by WXYZ-TV Channel 7 Detroit on Scribd
Click here to read the full article on the WXYZ-TV Channel 7 Detroit website.
The family of Richard Wahl is represented by Mr. Sandberg with his Detroit-based co-counsel, Sam Pietsch from the law firm of Ven Johnson Law.