Funeral home owner where 31 decomposing bodies were found in July pleads guilty
JEFFERSONVILLE, Ind. — The director of the Jeffersonville, Indiana, funeral home where 31 decomposing bodies and post-cremation remains of 17 others were found in July pled guilty Friday to felony theft charges.
Randy Lankford, owner of Lankford Funeral Home and Family Center, appeared in Clark County Circuit Court in front of about a dozen people related to the case. The terms of Lankford's deal waive the 50-year-old's right to appeal the more than 40 counts of felony theft charges he faced.
Judge N. Lisa Glickfield offered a 12-year sentence, four years as an executed sentence and eight years on home incarceration, where he was released following the Friday hearing.
Lankford was ordered to pay restitution to 53 families, totaling $46,000. His sentencing is set for 9 a.m., June 23. Victim family members will be allowed to share prepared statements, and they have an Aug. 25 deadline to file contingent claims for restitution of up to $1,000.
Jeffersonville Police began investigating the funeral home in early July, and the remains were turned over to the Clark County Coroner's Office, police said then. The unrefrigerated bodies were in various states of decomposition, and police alleged the longest had been stored there since March.
Clark County lead prosecutor Jeremy Mull said the vast number of charges against Lankford and existing court backups dating back to the COVID-19 pandemic complicated the process. Mull feels that the state's move to eliminate about half of the counts will grant the most immediate form of relief.
"We wanted to get justice for these families," he said.
Cynthia Cape of Louisville used Lankford's services for arrangements for her husband Sam Battaglia, Jr. A year to the date of his April 22, 2022 death, she received his cremated ashes after DNA testing caused painstaking delays.
After her first court experience with Lankford in the room, she was upset he will get home incarceration but acknowledged the small victory in getting her husband's remains.
"This just submitted for me how hard this can truly be," Cape said.
Derrick Kessinger had three loved ones — his father Mickey Kessinger, fiancée Aierell Barton and her father Richard Barton — in the care of Lankford's funeral home. Although shocked when he heard the terms of the plea and indifferent to the restitution money, the father of two young sons said he felt relief in the process coming to an end.
He said he would be at the sentencing, but didn't know if he would prepare a statement.
Reach reporter Caleb Wiegandt at cwiegandt@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @CalebWiegandt.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Funeral home owner pleads guilty: what to know about Randy Lankford
