Austin mortuary employee accused of experimenting on corpses, filing fraudulent death certificates
Employee accused of experiments on corpses
A North Austin mortuary employee is facing multiple felonies for allegedly experimenting on corpses and obtaining death certificates fraudulently.
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.
Adeline Bui
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."
The investigation
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.
Initial Texas Funeral Services Commission investigation
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.
Austin Police Department investigation
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.
Bui's interview with APD
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.
MedtoMarket CEO's interview with APD
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."
Austin criminal defense attorney weighs in
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 sensationalized.Our 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.