Morgue Worker Posed With Murder Victim’s Severed Head For Photo

A morgue worker in DeKalb County, Georgia, posed with the dismembered head of a murder victim while examining the remains.

The unnamed employee as well as the person who took the photo resigned before they could be terminated by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI), which had taken possession of the body to perform autopsy. The photo, in which the morgue employee was pictured smiling and holding the remains of Robert Page, who was murdered and dismembered, was circulated through the agency, which led to an investigation being launched.

Page's daughter, Reba Sanchez, told ABC-affiliated WSB-TV she was furious that the GBI let the worker resign before he could be fired.

“Resignation is too good - it's almost like an admission of what you did wasn't really wrong. They should have been terminated immediately,” Sanchez said.

She added: “Visually trying to see my father's head in a cooler is enough. But now you take it and you take pictures with it?" Sanchez said. "You taking pictures, making light of a situation like that? I mean, you're just as evil to me as that murderer. That's someone's loved one. You wouldn't want anyone to do that to your family member. So why would you do it to mine.”

Lula Page, the murder victim’s widow, echoed Sanchez’s thoughts.

"It's awful that somebody would be that evil," she said, adding she believed that both the employee who posed with her late husband’s remains as well as the one who took the picture suffered from serious psychological issues.

Robert was reported missing by his family on Nov. 8. After investigation, Christian Ponce-Martinez, 25, was charged with murdering, dismembering and hiding the victim’s body. Ponce-Martinez was spotted in a surveillance footage entering into Page’s property, which led to his arrest.

GBI spokeswoman Nelly Miles said it was against the agency’s policy to take personal photos in the examiner’s room.

“The GBI's position on this is it was highly inappropriate and it's been addressed," she said.

In October, the director of a Mexican state morgue was fired after a refrigerated semitrailer truck carrying 157 unidentified bodies and operated by the agency, drew complaints from the residents nearby over bad odor. The vehicle was reportedly abandoned in an open field close to Tlajomulco de Zuniga, Mexico.

"It is evident that those who were in charge of the transfer procedure altered the protocol without notifying their hierarchical superiors," Jalisco Gov. Aristoteles Sandoval said.

The truck was discovered by the locals after the vehicle’s cooling system failed and the neighbors could not stand the stench anymore.

“This affects our kids, it smells horrible and the longer it stays it’s going to stink even worse,” Patricia Jimenez, a resident living in the area said.

Javier Perlasca, an inspector for the state human rights commission, said the bodies, many of which belonged to victims of organized crime and cartel violence in the country, deserved a proper burial. “This was a mistake ... and it is bothering the neighbors' as well as causing pain for victims' families. It is time to end these comings and goings that only outrage and hurt people,” he said.