Pennsylvania funeral director accused of corpse abuse to face trial, judge orders

LANCASTER COUNTY, Pa. (WPMT) -- A Lancaster County funeral director charged with four felony counts of tampering with public records and four counts of abuse of a corpse will stand trial after waiving his preliminary hearing Monday morning, according to the Lancaster County District Attorney's Office.

Andrew Scheid, 49, remains free on $250,000 bail after his appearance Monday. District Judge Joshua Keller ordered Scheid to stand trial in Lancaster County Court.

Scheid, owner of Andrew T. Scheid Funeral Home in Manor Township, is accused of mishandling bodies in his care and knowingly making false entries on death certificates, prosecutors say. He was charged after authorities investigated accusations his funeral home was not properly caring for bodies between December 2019 and January of this year.

On January 14, four bodies were recovered from the funeral home, and it was discovered they had been there for periods as short as four days and as long as 17 days. Authorities say that during these times, the bodies were not properly cared for, were not embalmed, sealed or refrigerated and were found in various, advanced stages of decomposition.

READ the charges: - Lancaster County District Attorney's Office

One victim wanted her body to be donated to science and planned to donate her body for Penn State College of Medicine students' educational use. But her body was left out for four days without embalming or refrigeration, leading to what court documents called “advanced decomposition.”

MORE:

• Lancaster County funeral director accused of mishandling bodies will face trial after waiving preliminary hearing - WPMT

• Lancaster County District Attorney's Office

• Andrew Scheid waives preliminary hearing in criminal case; public, including media, barred from proceeding - Lancaster Online