Casket Opened During Botched Burial In Arlington Heights: Lawsuit

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, IL — A Chicago family is suing a Jewish funeral home in Arlington Heights after a casket that was being lowered into an grave overturned and opened in front of mourners at the service. The lawsuit was filed by the family of Chicago tax lawyer Paul Horowitz, and it accuses Shalom Memorial Funeral Home of negligence during the burial, resulting in the desecration of the deceased's body, which caused mental suffering and anguish, the Chicago Tribune reports. The family is seeking more than $50,000 in damages, the report stated.

According to the lawsuit, Horowitz's coffin was being lowered into the ground at Shalom Memorial Park in Arlington Heights when it came loose from its moorings and fell diagonally into the grave, the report stated. The crash forced the casket's lid open, and mourners could see the burial shroud covering the body, the report added.

The rabbi overseeing the service and other witnesses worked to properly place the coffin into the grave, the report stated. It took about half hour to an hour to resolve the situation, the report added. (Get Patch real-time email alerts for the latest Arlington Heights news. And iPhone users: Check out Patch's new app.)

"It was too horrific for words. … [W]e are devastated," Ronnie Horowitz, the deceased's widow, wrote in a statement.

Shalom Funeral Home would not comment about the legal action, according to the Tribune.

More via the Chicago Tribune

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