Former Supervisor Of Burr Oak Cemetery Eager To Clear Name In Court
(CBS) -- It's been six years since the allegations at Burr Oak Cemetery came to light in one of the most disturbing cases in the history of the Chicago area. Now one of the defendants is set to go to trial.
In this Original Report, CBS 2's Suzanne Le Mignot explains why he can't wait to have his day in court.
"I want everybody to know what really happened out at Burr Oak Cemetery," said Keith Nicks, a former supervisor at the cemetery.
In 2009, Keith Nicks and two other defendants were accused of digging up bodies at Burr Oak Cemetery, to resell burial plots. Now, six years later, the case is going to trial. Jury selection begins January 26.
Four of the seven counts against Nicks, have been dismissed. As a supervisor, Nicks oversaw two men in his role. Both are now prosecution witnesses. Nicks says he did nothing wrong and the two employees made it up.
"I have three generations buried at Burr Oak and my job was to come in and to enhance the place," Nicks said. "I really feel bad for the families that got drawn into this. It didn't happen. The truth is going to come out."
Nicks says one of the men continually went to an area where extra soil from old burial digs was dumped in the 80's.
"He had started actually excavating bones, bone fragments and planting them throughout the cemetery, even in the lunchroom area," Nicks said. "One of the guys even had the nerve take a set of teeth in the office."
Nicks' attorney, Tony Peraica, says under the Cemetery Protection Act, Nicks isn't liable for the remaining charges.
"This case is about the vast abuse of governmental authority, by the sheriff's office and the state's attorney's office, who have to date expended up to $10 million of taxpayers' money to investigate and prosecute a case that has no merit," Peraica said.
A spokesperson for Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez says no comment can be made on the case, prior to trial. A spokesperson for Sheriff Tom Dart, a key figure in the investigation, says there is no comment on these "baseless allegations."