The owner of a Brisbane funeral home has described the warning signs that led her and her staff to confront three visitors allegedly attempting to remove tissue from a deceased man’s body before police were called.
Esther Swanborough, who has operated her family’s funeral business in Browns Plains, south of Brisbane, for three decades, said the two men and a 43-year-old woman arrived to view the body of an elderly man.
Brian Wong, 47, Changmin Koo, 38, and Cassandra Hunter allegedly identified themselves as the deceased man’s son, another male relative and a female support person.
The trio arrived with backpacks shortly before a scheduled 1pm appointment on Friday to view Wong’s father’s body in the funeral home’s Still Waters Chapel.
“We took them downstairs to have their private viewing time,” Ms Swanborough said.
One visitor then asked staff to leave the chapel, saying, “Please leave the chapel because we have cultural practices that we need to carry out,” Ms Swanborough recalled.
Ms Swanborough said such requests were “not uncommon” because the business worked with people from around 240 cultures. However, she said what allegedly happened next “was not anything to do with culture”.
Her concerns deepened when a staff member overheard Koo speaking and told her he allegedly “was definitely not a relative” because he was speaking Korean rather than Mandarin, the language used by Wong’s family.
Esther Swanborough checked on the trio during their viewing of Brian Wong’s father’s body and allegedly found them attempting to remove something. “Gloves were being put away. I said, ‘What have you done?’”
The body was being held in the funeral home’s Still Waters Chapel, where Ms Swanborough was horrified to allegedly discover the trio attempting to remove tissue with scalpels or blades concealed in their backpacks
“Then I just went back in to make sure they were doing okay. Everyone grieves differently,” Ms Swanborough said.
It was then that she allegedly realised Wong’s father’s body had been interfered with.
“Something very different was happening. My impression was that something else … was occurring.
“They were allegedly trying to remove something that would have been very obvious when he was moved from the viewing room … gloves were being put away.
“I said, ‘What have you done?’ and that was when I started piecing things together. We called the police straight away.”
When Ms Swanborough confronted the group, Brian Christian Wong allegedly fled the funeral parlour. Police declared the premises a crime scene when they arrived.
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Police allege one of the men removed a piece of tissue after the group entered the funeral home carrying scissors, scalpels and blades. Ms Swanborough said the items had been concealed in large backpacks when the visitors arrived.
The disturbing incident left her “shocked, horrified and mortified”. She said that in 30 years of running the business, neither she nor her manager had witnessed anything similar.
Cassandra Hunter and Changmin Koo were arrested at the scene. Police later arrested Brian Wong at his family’s Browns Plains home, more than five hours after the alleged incident.
Wong, Koo and Hunter were charged with misconduct with a corpse, entering premises with intent to commit an indictable offence, and being armed with intent to enter premises and commit an indictable offence.
After 30 years operating her family funeral business, Esther Swanborough said she had never witnessed anything like the alleged mutilation or removal of tissue from a body by a relative
Ms Swanborough said the trio asked to be left alone with Mr Wong’s body for “cultural” reasons, but she later alleged that what occurred had nothing to do with culture
A Brisbane magistrate remanded the trio in custody, saying they were allegedly armed with scissors, scalpels and blades before interfering with and wounding a dead body without justification
The three appeared in Brisbane Magistrates Court on Saturday and were remanded in custody after making no application for bail.
Magistrate Peter Saggers said the group had been carrying several sharp instruments, according to The Courier-Mail.
“Just reading the bench charge sheets, they’re entering Swanborough Funerals home at Browns Plains while armed with scissors, scalpels and blades to commit an offence, and then, without justification, interfered with and wounded a dead body,” he said.
Brian Wong was remanded to appear at Beenleigh Magistrates Court on November 12.
Changmin Koo is due back in court on November 10 and will require a Korean interpreter.
Cassandra Hunter will remain in custody until December 7, when she is scheduled to appear via video link.
In a video shared on Facebook, Ms Swanborough reassured other families that “at no point in time were any of the other families we were caring for at the time affected”.
“It was an isolated incident in our viewing room with family members. I want to thank everyone for your support, so much appreciated. We’re doing okay, we’re shocked, we’re emotionally distressed.”