A FUNERAL home worker has been arrested after she allegedly experimented on corpses and took disturbing photos of severed, decomposing limbs.
The investigation into Adeline Ngan-Binh Bui, 50, shows the dark side of funeral homes, sparking concern about what actually happens to people's loved ones when they die.
Bui, an employee at an Austin funeral home called Capital Mortuary Services, turned herself into jail last week after local police uncovered grim details about the unauthorized work she was allegedly doing.
The probe into Bui's work started when a former embalmer at Capital Mortuary Services told Texas officials that she had allegedly “fraudulently initiated and obtained” at least ten death certificates under his name without consent, per court documents obtained by local Fox affiliate KTBC.
Even more shocking, the ex-embalmer alleged that Bui was experimenting on “separated anatomical structures” – specifically the arms of a dead person.
Bui allegedly injected the severed arms with formaldehyde, per court docs.
Formaldehyde is a colorless, pungent, flammable chemical that has been linked to myeloid leukemia and rare cancers in people exposed to high levels of formaldehyde, like industrial workers and embalmers.
The Texas Funeral Services Commission (TFSC) shut down the funeral home on April 10 with a cease and desist letter stating that it “failed to meet building, health, and safety codes” after receiving the ex-embalmer's claims.
The TFSC also gave the Austin Police Department (APD) copies of eight death certificates with the ex-embalmer's electronic signature, per court docs.
The ex-embalmer said in a sworn statement that he was not even a funeral director at Capital Mortuary Services and that he never obtained those eight death certificates.
TFSC told police it is “not legally permissible” for anyone but the funeral director in charge to sign a death certificate.
Two other forms were also found to be allegedly fraudulent.
The ninth form had the ex-embalmer's name and signature under the title of funeral director and Bui signed as a notary.
In the final form, Bui allegedly wrote to the ex-embalmer, “Let's us[e] this update to monitor our experiment,” followed by multiple photos of what investigators think were severed arms at various stages of decomposition.
TSFC told the police 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,” court docs say.
WHAT DID BUI SAY?
Bui allegedly told police that she did use the ex-embalmer's “Funeral Director in Charge” title on death certificates without his consent.
She allegedly confirmed that the ex-embalmer never did any paperwork at the funeral home and when asked why she put his name down, she said she “had to put someone's name in there.”
Bui also allegedly said that she directed her staff to conduct experiments to see the effect of embalming fluid with and without formaldehyde.
Up to 15 bodies were mutilated and experimented on with the permission of MedtoMarket, a medical training and co-working facility in Austin, Bui said, according to court docs.
The CEO of MedtoMarket denied any “experimental testing” but said Capital Mortuary Service was embalming arms for the company to see how long they could preserve them.
Police also executed a search warrant of the funeral home where they found household power tools that seemed to have human tissue on them.
Bui allegedly confirmed that she and her staff used the tools on the dead bodies.
Despite, Bui's alleged admissions, her legal team told KTBC:“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.”
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.
