Licensing troubles deepen in case of N. Philly bodies

THE SORDID tale of three corpses found stuffed inside a North Philly garage is only getting more twisted.

Police pulled the three bodies from the garage, on Hagert Street near 27th, just before 11 a.m. Tuesday, after a neighbor stumbled upon them while investigating the stench of rotting flesh emanating from the property.

State records show that Powell Mortuary Services, the nearby funeral home that the bodies were entrusted to, was cited in May for operating without a license.

But Chris Dailey, the son of Powell owner Janet Powell Dailey, said Tuesday that the family business was still legit: His mom, who still has valid licenses from the state as a funeral director and supervisor, was using another location, the Price Funeral Home, to store and process bodies, he explained.

That would be a perfectly legal arrangement if the operating license for Price weren't also expired, as a spokeswoman for the Department of State indicated yesterday.

John Price Jr., who inherited the West Philly funeral home from his father, confirmed yesterday that he has opened his doors to Powell Dailey while her facility, on 27th Street near Cumberland, is being renovated.

Powell Dailey has been preparing bodies at Price, on 43rd Street near Wallace, for the past few months, according to Price.

He said such arrangements are common among funeral directors, a professional community he described as tight-knit, like "brothers and sisters."

Price has known Powell Dailey, he said, since he was a boy.

"Janet is a very good funeral director," said Price, who said Tuesday's news shocked him. "She generally knows her stuff. I'm not sure what happened."

Price said the bodies found in the garage had previously been in his facility, as Chris Dailey claimed, but that he didn't know for how long.

He also confirmed Dailey's story that the bodies were moved from Price early Tuesday, and temporarily stored in the garage while Dailey went to pick up new bodies. The plan, Price said, was to return to the garage later that day to bring the bodies to a crematorium.

Price wasn't sure why the bodies were in such poor condition: He said he has refrigerated spaces for storing bodies at his funeral home.

But as far as the state is concerned, no one should be storing bodies at Price Funeral Home.

Despite Price's claim that his business is licensed, Wanda Murren, the press secretary for the Department of State, said yesterday that the operating license for Price Funeral Home lapsed in 2012 and hasn't been renewed.

Price is currently a licensed funeral director, but let his funeral-supervisor license expire in 2012 as well, Murren said.

All three licenses - for the facility, director and supervisor - are required to operate, under state law.

The penalty for operating with an expired license is a $500 fine for the first 60 days, Murren said. If nothing is done, the state can take formal action, which involves more serious fines (up to $10,000) and the potential suspension or revocation of the business' license.

Powell Dailey faces a Sept. 15 hearing in Harrisburg for her funeral home's lapsed license, according to the citation issued by the state, obtained by the Daily News.

She hadn't been charged with a crime as of last night, said a police spokeswoman, who noted that the case is "very much an active investigation."

Sources told the Daily News that Powell Dailey's explanation for Tuesday's incident differs from her son's - she told detectives that the bodies had been in the garage since Monday, when the smell of their decomposition became too strong.

The bodies had come from two nursing homes, and appeared to have been dead for an extended period, the sources said.