August 25, 2005

Man Charged With Desecrating Corpse From Civil War-Era Tomb
NEWBURYPORT, Mass. -- A young man performing court-ordered community service in a cemetery has been charged with desecrating a Civil War-era tomb, pulling apart the skeleton, and posing for pictures with the skull and other bones.

"It's bizarre, absolutely bizarre," police Lt. Richard Siemasko said. "I can't even imagine what was in his head. This is just a whole new level of weird for me."

Neil J. Goodwin Jr., 19, of Salisbury, was working at the city's Old Hill Burying Ground on Aug. 17 as part of his court-ordered community service for a burglary conviction.

Prosecutors said Goodwin, who was on probation for breaking into an apartment building last fall, kicked in the thin marble entrance to the tomb marked "1863 Pierce," and twisted off the decomposed corpse's spine, collarbone and skull.

Police said they got an anonymous tip on Saturday, and later received three photos of Goodwin holding the bones. Police would not say who took the pictures or identified Goodwin, but they do not expect to make more arrests.

Investigators found the skull in a hole about 15 feet from the tomb.

Goodwin was arraigned Wednesday in Newburyport District Court on charges of desecrating a corpse and breaking into a tomb, both felonies. He was ordered held on $10,000 cash bail and is scheduled to return to court on Sept. 22.

Siemasko said the city plans to hire a funeral home to piece the skeleton back together, so it can be replaced in its casket.

Police were still trying to determine the exact identity of the grave's occupant, but the body could be that of Civil War veteran Willard Balch Pierce, according to curator Jay Williamson of the Historical Society of Old Newbury.