Latest news with #AdelineBui
Yahoo
24-04-2025
- Yahoo
Austin mortuary employee accused of experimenting on corpses, filing fraudulent death certificates
The Brief Adeline Bui is facing multiple felonies for alleged experiments on corpses, fraudulently obtaining death certificates Incidents she is charged with go back to at least August 2022 Investigation began with allegations by a former employee AUSTIN, Texas - An employee at a North Austin mortuary is now facing multiple felony charges in connection with alleged "experiments" on corpses and fraudulently-obtained death certificates. 50-year-old Adeline Ngan-Binh Bui has been charged with one count of state-jail felony abuse of corpse and five counts of second-degree felony tampering with governmental records with intent to defraud or harm. Austin police say Bui turned herself in at the Travis County Jail on April 18 and bond was set at a collective $27,500 according to court records. Jail records do not show Bui as currently in custody. What they're saying Bui's attorney, Jessica Hunh of the Smith and Vinson Law Firm, issued a statement to FOX 7 Austin: "Our criminal justice system is based on the presumption of innocence and a careful, critical evaluation of the evidence, facts, and their sources. This case involves complexities that are not immediately apparent and should not be sensationalized. Our legal team remains fully committed to defending and advocating for our client, Adeline Bui, with the expectation of fairness and due process." Timeline The incidents she is charged with go back to at least August 2022, according to court documents. Warning: Details of the investigation are included below and may be disturbing to some. Court documents state that in March, a former embalmer at Capital Mortuary Services alleged to the TFSC that Bui had "fraudulently initiated and obtained" at least ten death certificates under his name and license number without his consent. The embalmer also alleged Bui had been experimenting on "separated anatomical structures," namely the arms of an unknown dead person. The "experiment," according to the court documents, involved injecting formaldehyde into the arms and observing its effects over time on the severed limbs. The TFSC later issued a cease and desist letter to the mortuary on April 10, saying that the funeral home had "failed to meet building, health, and safety codes per TEX. OCC. CODE § 651.351(d)" and had to "immediately cease and desist all operations". The TFSC license registry lists Capital Mortuary Services as now closed. The TFSC called in the Austin Police Department on April 2 and provided APD with copies of eight death certificates, allegedly signed by the former embalmer via an electronic signature, says court paperwork. The former embalmer swore in an affidavit that he had not even been employed as a funeral director with Capital Mortuary Services, and instead was employed as a crematory operator, driver and embalmer. He also stated he never accessed the Texas Electronic Vital Events Registrar (or TxEVER) to obtain those eight death certificates. APD also found the embalmer's name and an allegedly forged signature on a correction form for a ninth person. The form had him listed as a "funeral director" in order to amend the certificate and request copies. The affidavit states that Bui signed the form as a notary. More evidence came forward about a tenth fraudulent certificate, which included screenshots from the former employee of an alleged communication with Bui from December 2023. In the communications, Bui allegedly wrote "let's us[e] this update to monitor our experiment," which was followed by several photos of what police believed were severed and detached arms showing various stages of decomposition. TSFC investigators told APD that Bui "then allowed the severed body parts to be placed in the crematory retort, where the body parts, in their dissected and disturbed state, would be cremated," says court paperwork. The TSFC's executive director also told APD that Capital Mortuary Services was licensed as a "commercial embalming and crematory facility" and that the commission had "neither approved nor received any documentation or application for CMS to operate as a registered anatomical facility". TSFC investigators also informed APD that the allegations were a "recurring theme" associated with "miscommunication with families, improper documentation, unprofessional conduct, and possible fraud." TSFC also learned that the former embalmer's name had been used at least 128 times for death certificates under the mortuary's name. APD records also showed other incidents of improper cremation procedures and alleged potential fraud in connection with Capital Mortuary Services. In an interview with an APD homicide detective, Bui allegedly admitted to using the former embalmer's "Funeral Director in Charge" or FDIC identity to complete and submit death certificates without his consent or authority. She also allegedly confirmed the former employee had never done a single death certificate or amendment or even any paperwork at her facility and that he would not know how to do that. When confronted about why she put his name down when he was not a current employee, she said she "had to put someone's name in there" and that his name was still a "drop down" on the form. APD says that Bui also confessed to simulating the embalmer's signature on the amendment form she notarized and confirmed that he was not employed there or in her presence at the time. She said he was still the FDIC listed, and she did it because she needed to turn the certificate in and confirm it using his driver's license. She also confirmed directing her staff to conduct experiments to study the effects of embalming fluid with and without formaldehyde. She approximated that up to 15 bodies had been mutilated and experimented on with the permission of MedtoMarket, court paperwork says. A search warrant at the mortuary also uncovered household power tools which appeared to have human tissue on them and Bui allegedly confirmed they had been used on bodies at the mortuary. APD investigators spoke with the CEO of MedtoMarket, a medical training and co-working facility in south central Austin. The CEO confirmed he had a contract with Capital Mortuary Service for transport and cremation services and that the mortuary "would help [them] out with dissection sometimes" but added it was a long time ago. He also denied any "experimental testing" but confirmed CMS was embalming arms for them to see how long they could preserve them. He denied that any "experiment" happened and referred to it as embalming, court paperwork said. TFSC told APD it was "unlawful for a commercial embalming establishment to use a dead human body for research or education purposes," when asked if there was "any possible legal way" for Med2Market to grant authority for experiments on remains obtained from them. TSFC also told APD that it is "not legally permissible" for someone other than the funeral director in charge to sign a death certificate. Texas Health and Safety Code explicitly requires "only the person in charge of internment or removal of the body from a registration district for disposition may file a death certificate." What they're saying Sam Bassett, an Austin criminal defense attorney not affiliated with the case, weighed in on the case. "This is a pretty usual one because somebody actually forged death certificates many times in order to facilitate the activity they were involved in," Bassett said to FOX 7 Austin's Tan Radford. "It's pretty clear that this would not have come to light without the former employee reporting it. It's probably not a situation where the funeral services commission goes in and randomly audits bodies, and the activities of a funeral home are crematory," added Bassett. Bassett called this case "tough" and "unusual". "It certainly leads me and probably the public to believe you just got to wonder how much of this goes on in the industry that is not reported by former employees," said Bassett. What's next Court records show that Bui has a court appearance scheduled for May 9. What they're saying Bui's legal team released a statement to FOX 7: "Our criminal justice system is based on the presumption of innocence and a careful, critical evaluation of the evidence, facts, and their sources. This case involves complexities that are not immediately apparent and should not be legal team remains fully committed to defending and advocating for our client, Adeline Bui, with the expectation of fairness and due process." The Source Information in this report comes from court documents and records, the Texas Funeral Services Commission and the Austin Police Department.
Yahoo
23-04-2025
- Yahoo
Austin funeral home owner charged with abusing corpses, fabricating death certificates
An Austin funeral home owner has been charged with multiple felonies after police accused her of tampering with bodies and fabricating death certificates. Adeline Bui was arrested and charged with abuse of a corpse and tampering with a government record. Her Travis County Jail records and police affidavits became public Wednesday. She could not immediately be reached for comment. Bui's arrest comes after police seized cremated remains, funeral documents, digital devices, anatomical specimens, and tools bearing suspected human tissue from Capital Mortuary Services in Northeast Austin earlier this month, as detailed across three coordinated warrants. Police accuse Bui of falsifying death certificates and conducting unauthorized experiments on human remains, according to the search warrants. A former employee of the funeral home shared screenshots with investigators from a message thread named 'Freedom Art Experiment' that contained evidence of severed arms being used for chemical testing with embalming fluids. The message thread shows several pictures of severed arms going through various states of decomposition with messages detailing experimental procedures, the warrant said. Bui told an Austin police detective that these arms were evaluated over the course of months. Bui admitted to police that she conducted experiments to study the effects of embalming fluid on up to 15 bodies, including tests on heads, arms and spines, according to the warrant. Bui claims the experiments were authorized by the client and that they were updating the company on the experiments. Scott Bingaman, executive director of the Texas Funeral Commission, told police that Capital Mortuary Services was never approved to conduct experiments on bodies and had not applied for the required status as a non-transplant anatomical donation program. The commission, which licenses and regulates funeral industry professionals and facilities, must approve such programs under state law. According to the warrants, Bui also fraudulently used the name of a man who previously worked at the funeral home as a crematory operator, driver and embalmer to certify death certificates. Bui acknowledged that she used the man's name on notarized Death Certificate Amendment Forms, according to the warrants. Bui said the man never completed any paperwork at Capital Mortuary Services and that he wouldn't even know how to. When asked by police about using his name, Bui said she "had to put someone's name in there" and that Tuttle's name was still available as a "drop down" option on the form. Bui also owns and operates Eternal Peace Funeral and Cremation Services in Round Rock, where police also executed a warrant as part of the investigation. This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Austin funeral home owner charged with abusing corpses
