A state regulatory board suspended a Conyers crematory owner’s license after he was accused of threatening a co-worker and dismembering a corpse in his care, possibly without the consent of relatives.
William B. Ellenberg III, owner of Metro Embalming & Crematory Inc., also shot himself during a suicide attempt at his business, according to the Georgia State Board of Funeral Service, which suspended his license Sept. 20, according to state records. He suffered a leg wound and was treated at a local hospital, according to authorities.
Efforts were made Saturday to reach Ellenberg for comment. He told one local TV station that “a scorned woman” and business partner made the allegations.
Ellenberg has operated his funeral services business since 1996, according to the secretary of state’s office.
In suspending his license, the State Board of Funeral Service said Ellenberg “made terroristic threats and threaten[ed] to kill a person” with whom he worked. The Walton County Superior Court had issued a protective order against Ellenberg, but the state board did not say whether the protective order involved the same person who allegedly was threatened with “terroristic threats.”
The board also said Ellenberg “cut up and dismembered the body of an obese deceased person prior to cremating the body.”
According to The Rockdale Citizen, citing a spokesman with the Conyers Police Department, Ellenberg did not get prior approval from the dead person’s family before dismembering the corpse for cremation. The police spokesman, however, said Ellenberg committed no crime and added that it was not uncommon for crematories to dismember bodies too large to accommodate.
Ellenberg reportedly was taken to Athens Regional Medical Center after apparently shooting himself in the leg at his business on Aug. 15, which the the State Board of Funeral Service referred to as a suicide attempt in its decision to suspend his license.
The board said it suspended his license because Ellenberg’s “continued ability to practice as a funeral director and embalmer poses a threat” to the public. Ellenberg can appeal the suspension within 14 days of the day the state board’s order was signed.
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