Body Snatcher Disabled

In an odd twist, [a former funeral parlor owner from Staten Island accused in a plot to plunder corpses and sell the body parts for transplant is now incapacitated thanks to a severe head injury and might not be able to go to trial for at least a ][year,] according to his attorney yesterday. Last week, Joseph Nicelli, 50, was hospitalized in critical condition due to a skull fracture and broken leg when he fell 20 feet from a roof at a construction site in New Jersey. Doctors say Nicelli will need a year of rehabilitation and might sustain permanent brain damage and blindness in one eye. Well, it looks like nobody will be selling his damaged goods on the black market. Last year, Nicelli and three other men were accused of removing skin, bone and other transplantable parts from hundreds of bodies at funeral homes without permission. They were all released on bail after pleading not guilty to charges including body stealing, unlawful dissection and forgery.

Photo courtesy of [spankmeeehard on Flickr]