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Ex-Funeral Director Faces 278 Charges For Allegedly Stashing Bodies

BOSTON (CBS) -- A former Mattapan funeral director is facing 278 charges over accusations of stashing a dozen bodies in a storage unit.

Prosecutors say 56-year-old Joseph O'Donnell took money from clients but then never buried the bodies, instead keeping the decomposing corpses in a Weymouth storage facility. O'Donnell is charged with not holding a license despite handling more than 200 funerals and cremations, and also stealing about $150,000 in funeral pre-payments.

He ran O'Donnell and Mulry Funeral Home on Neponset Avenue in Dorchester, but he lost his license back in 2008. An investigation turned up 12 bodies at the Weymouth storage unit in July.

O'Donnell is also believed to have given many families ashes belonging to someone other than their loved ones, according to prosecutors.

Additionally, authorities say O'Donnell agreed to "pre-need contracts" with 31 people to put money in a trust for use when the client died. But when asked by police where the money was, he allegedly told them, "It's all gone."

Back in April, O'Donnell was criminally charged for allegedly working without a license and misusing more than $12,000 in pre-paid funeral fees.

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