Burr Oak owner agrees to independent oversight
CHICAGO (AP) — The owner of a historic black cemetery in suburban Chicago where hundreds of graves were dug up as part of an alleged plot reselling scheme agreed Tuesday to appoint an independent chief operating officer to oversee daily operations.
The move came after Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan filed a motion last week for independent oversight at Burr Oak Cemetery in Alsip, claiming incompetent and dishonest management.
Both Madigan and Burr Oak owner Perpetua Burr-Oak Holdings of Illinois agreed Tuesday at a bankruptcy hearing to appoint crisis management expert Howard Korenthal. Judge Pamela Hollis approved the appointment.
Korenthal, an accountant, works at Morris Anderson&Associates in Chicago. Under the agreement, he will be paid by Perpetua. Korenthal did not immediate return messages Tuesday seeking comment.
"Howard has an excellent reputation," said Paul Gaynor, the chief of the public interest division for Madigan's office. "He has experience with troubled and distressed businesses."
In July, four former Burr Oak workers were charged with allegations that they dug up hundreds of corpses, tossed remains or double-stacked bodies and resold plots in a moneymaking scheme that stretched back at least five years. All four workers have pleaded not guilty.
The 150-acre Burr Oak Cemetery hasremained closed since July. It is the resting place of civil rights-era lynching victim Emmett Till blues singers Willie Dixon and Dinah Washington and boxing champion Ezzard Charles.
Gaynor said Korenthal's main goal for Burr Oak is to "get it reopened for the families." He had no further details and referred further questions to Korenthal.
Perpetua attorneys did not address reporters after Tuesday's bankruptcy hearing. A message left for a Perpetua attorney was not immediately returned.
The company filed for bankruptcy last week. That meant the court-appointed receiver, Roman Szabelski, who was put in charge after the allegations surfaced, would no longer oversee the cemetery.
At Tuesday's hearing, officials said Szabelski, the executive director of Catholic Cemeteries for the Archdiocese of Chicago, will remain an unpaid consultant for Burr Oak.
Also Tuesday, a court hearing for civil cases involving Burr Oak was postponed until November.
U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush announced federal legislation on Monday that was aimed at strengthening cemetery and funeral home regulation in the wake of the allegations.
