Funeral home loses licence after worker chopped off legs of 6ft7in man to fit him in coffin



Distressing: James Hine (left) has now been reburied

An American funeral home has been closed down after workers chopped off the legs of a 6ft7in man to fit him in a coffin.

James Hines's family were not told that staff at the Cave Funeral Home, in Allendale, South Carolina, had taken drastic actions to fit his corpse in a standard-sized casket.

It was only after the 60-year-old's burial that rumours about what had happened sparked a full-scale investigation.

Police exhumed his body and discovered Mr Hine's legs had been removed between the ankle and calf with an electric saw and placed alongside him in the coffin.

Funeral director Michael Cave admitted that an unlicensed worker Charles G. Cave had carried out the procedure.

The South Carolina Board of Funeral Service voted to revoke the home's licence, forcing the business to close.

The board also fined Cave $500 and ordered him to pay $1,500 for the investigation.

Prosecutors are considering whether to bring a criminal case against Mr Cave,

Under South Carolina law, destroying or desecrating human remains is punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

Mr Hines, a minister and funk musician, died of skin cancer in 2004 and his wife Ann picked out a standard-sized coffin.

She said her husband's body was only shown from the chest up at his funeral - and that there had been no suggestion of ordering a larger casket.

'We asked the funeral director if the casket would be suitable for his length and he said "Yes, that will be perfect",' she said.

'It's been overwhelming. I've gotten lots of calls of support but I've also heard from people who said I should just have let this go.'

Mr Hines, an an albino black man with several modest hits in the 1970s as a soul and funk guitarist with J. Hines and the Boys, was well-known in the town of 3,700 people.

He became a preacher later in his life, playing his guitar during services at the church he built and on a nearby Christian radio station until his death.

'It's heart-wrenching,' a spokesman for Mr Hines' church said.

'There's nothing bad you can say about James Hines.

'Everyone knew him as this huge, lovable man who was devoted to the church, his family and the community.'

Mr Hines's body has now been reburied in a different coffin.