State inspectors made the decision to suspend the license of longtime Worcester funeral director Peter Stefan after finding several improperly-stored bodies in the basement of his funeral home last week, according to state records.
A temporary order of suspension issued by the Board of Registration of Funeral Directors and Embalmers on Friday states that inspectors found 16 bodies during an Oct. 23 visit to Graham Putnam & Mahoney Funeral Parlors — several of which were decaying and covered in bugs and maggots.
Stefan, well known for burying the poor and unwanted, has called the suspension a “setup,” saying the deceased were properly stored in enclosed body bags.
“They were just way out of line,” Stefan said on Wednesday.
Inspectors had been visiting the funeral home regularly since early September after the city received a complaint about a strong odor coming from the establishment.
Officials discovered several decomposing bodies in the basement at the time, which Stefan said he was unable to dispose of because the city failed to sign cremation permits in a timely manner. He said he picked the bodies up from UMass Memorial Medical Center in May. Some had been dead for seven or eight months.
“We asked, ‘What took you so long knowing the gravity of the situation?’” Stefan previously told MassLive.
The city eventually signed the permits and the issue appeared to be abated after a Sept. 3 inspection, according to the state. Five subsequent visits were made to ensure there were no more issues.
Stefan was instructed not to take any more bodies until his funeral home was cleared by the Worcester Department of Public Health, but he allegedly told inspectors that he would not stop taking abandoned bodies, according to the state.
The Division of Professional Licensure filed a first order to show cause on Oct. 15, asking Stefan to prove why his license should not be suspended for the alleged violations.
A week later, a state inspector found 16 bodies during a planned visit to the funeral home and was concerned about how some of them were stored. Several had been in Stefan’s care since at least Sept. 3, according to state records, and were covered in flies and maggots.
One body was mummified, according to the state.
Stefan said the inspectors came in and began opening bags. He contends that the bodies were properly stored.
“They knew damn right well there was nothing wrong,” he said, adding, “There were no odors, there was nothing.”
Since Stefan’s license was revoked on Friday, the funeral home has been operating under the license of a different funeral director. But the state said Graham Putnam & Mahoney is prohibited from accepting any new bodies.
Stefan will face the board during a hearing on Monday to determine whether his license should remain suspended. The state contends that he poses and “immediate and serious threat to the public health, safety and welfare.”
Well known for taking bodies of the poor and unwanted — often at a financial loss — Stefan said his reputation stands for itself. In 2013, Stefan’s funeral home became the center of public attention when he accepted the body of Boston Marathon bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev.
“However far it takes to go with this, somebody has to rectify it,” he said. “My reputation stands for itself. I refuse nobody.”