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Posted - 29 August 2005 : 6:24:25 PM
A young man performing court-ordered community service in a cemetery was charged with breaking into a Civil War-era tomb and desecrating remains by pulling apart a skeleton and posing for pictures with the skull and other bones.
"It's bizarre, absolutely bizarre," police Lt. Richard Siemasko said. "I can't even imagine what was in his head. This is just a whole new level of weird for me."
Neil J. Goodwin Jr., 19, of Salisbury, was working at the city's Old Hill Burying Ground on Aug. 17 as part of his court-ordered community service for a burglary conviction.
Prosecutors said Goodwin, who was on probation for breaking into an apartment building last fall, kicked in the thin marble entrance to the tomb marked "1863 Pierce," and twisted off the decomposed corpse's spine, collarbone and skull.
Police said they got an anonymous tip on Saturday, and later received three photos of Goodwin holding the bones. Police would not say who took the pictures or who identified Goodwin, but they do not expect to make more arrests.
Investigators found the skull in a hole about 15 feet from the tomb.
Goodwin was arraigned Wednesday on charges of desecrating a corpse and breaking into a tomb, both felonies. He was ordered held on $10,000 cash bail and is scheduled to return to court on Sept. 22.
Goodwin's attorney, Michael Baldassarre, declined comment Thursday.
Siemasko said the city plans to hire a funeral home to piece the skeleton back together so it can be replaced in its casket.
The crypt houses members of the Pierce family who died of tuberculosis between 1863 and 1899. Police had trouble identifying the dismembered corpse because vandals decades ago stole the silver nameplates that accompany each body in the crypt, Siemasko said.
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