County Coroner Who Hoarded ‘Rotting Corpses’ Ruins Halloween for His Community

Somewhere, Ryan Murphy is rewriting his new season of American Horror Story. 

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County Coroner Who Hoarded ‘Rotting Corpses’ Ruins Halloween for His Community

There’s nothing worse than starting a new job that involves cleaning up the mess of the person who had the job before you. Except for when you’re starting a new job because the person who had it before you got caught hoarding corpses, so now, you can’t even throw a Halloween party because everyone is so freaked out.

Unfortunately, this is exactly what happened to Dr. Greg Grahek, who was named interim county coroner of Pueblo County, Colorado, after the previous coroner, Brian Cotter, was forced to resign for using his funeral home to collect dead bodies like some kind of Ryan Murphy character. Grahek’s office tried to host a Halloween party to win back the goodwill of the community—but the community seemingly was not ready to forget Cotter’s sins. And fair enough!

In August, investigators found 24 decomposing bodies behind a cardboard door at the funeral home Cotter owns with his brother, Chris. Local12 reported that some of the bodies—which were supposed to be cremated—had been there for at least 15 years. Cotter also “admitted that he may have” given some families some fake cremated remains. The uncertainty is honestly funny.

Grahek was named interim on September 2—after Cotter submitted his resignation letter—and he’s reportedly been busy trying to restore trust, hence the “Family-Friendly” Halloween party, which his office announced on Facebook on October 14, writing: “Wear a costume (mom and dad included!) and hit the dusty trail. Enjoy treats and games and spooky times with family and friends!” Damn you, Cotter.

I grew up in Massachusetts and now live in NYC, so I’ve never lived within an elected county coroner system. But I love this very Normal Rockwell image of the person responsible for investigating violent or suspicious deaths also being the person who throws the neighborhood’s most G-rated Halloween hang. Just not this year 🙁

“Our intent was simply to provide a safe, family-friendly opportunity for children and families to enjoy the holiday together, as we had provided in the past,” the coroner’s office wrote in an updated Facebook post. “It has become clear, however, that the event was not well received by some members of the community. We recognize and respect those concerns, and as such, we have decided to cancel the event.”

Damn, it’s like the Brothers Grimm took How the Grinch Stole Christmas and turned it into a fucked-up tale of why a little town was never allowed to celebrate Halloween ever again.

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