KENTUCKY, TEXAS: Raymond Vancleave, a Kentucky coroner, is in the middle of a legal battle for allegedly mishandling the body of a dead man as he was left to rot in a hot SUV overnight.
Several other county officials are also facing a lawsuit in connection to the alleged mishandling of the deceased body of Nathan Dean Peyton, reports People.
Who was Nathan Dean Peyton?
Basill Peyton, the brother of Nathan Peyton whose body was left in a car, claimed that Morgan County Coroner Vancleave has negligently mishandled his brother's body after he died on December 30, 2022, as per the September 12 complaint.
According to the court filing by Basill, he accuses the coroner of "abuse of a corpse" and alleged that Vancleave left Nathan's body in "a sealed black body bag" overnight in a car on an "unseasonably warm day."
The complaint has also named several other officials including county fiscal court magistrates Carter Bolin, Brandon Evans, Leroy Phipps, Darrell Patrick, and Donnie Keaton, and former Judge-Executive John Stacy, as he claimed they should have been aware of the Vancleave's negligent behavior in the past.
Nathan's body was in good condition when Basill found him dead, according to WKTV.
However, the legal filing claims that "instead of transporting the corpse of Nathan Dean Peyton to the State Medical Examiner's Office in Frankfort, Kentucky," coroner Vancleave kept possession of Nathan's body inside his vehicle overnight.
His body "rapidly decomposed," as per the court documents.
The lawsuit alleges that Vancleave had previously had his access revoked to the morgue, freezer, and cooling systems at local hospitals due to his alleged past failure to retrieve bodies in a timely fashion, which county officials were allegedly aware of.
Why was Nathan Peyton's body kept inside Raymond Vancleave's vehicle?
Vancleave allegedly shifted Nathan's deceased body to the state medical examiner's office in Frankfort on December 31, 2022, "for an autopsy that was not requested by" the deceased man's family.
Sarah Maines, the state medical examiner noted that Natahn's body was "moderately decomposed."
Visitors to funeral home where Nathan's coffin was placed 'vomited and became ill'
On January 1, a local funeral home's representative retrieved Nathan's body and by that time, the condition of the corpse further deteriorated.
The body was "decomposed so badly due to mishandling" that the "smell emanating from the body bag was pungent and putrid," as per the court documents.
As a result of the advanced level of decomposition, Nathan's funeral had to be conducted with a closed casket.
The funeral took place on January 6 and the court document claimed that several visitors to the funeral home "vomited and became ill because of the foul and pungent odor coming from Mr Peyton's coffin."
When Nathan was buried, he had to remain in the body bag. The legal filing seeks unspecified damages for Basill Peyton who alleges he has "sustained and endured great and severe mental and physical pain and suffering."
