Tennessee widow demands $2M after funeral home allegedly sent back clothes stained with partner’s brain matter

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A Tennessee widow is suing a funeral home for over $2 million after her partner’s clothes were allegedly returned to her covered in brain matter, according to a report.

​Sheila McGilvrey found her partner Richard Pretzeus dead outside of his home in Blountville in September last year, after he took his own life, her lawsuit says.

​Speaking to WJHL News Channel 11, McGilvrey claims she was handed her common law partner’s possessions in a bag with the word “clothing” stamped on it when she went to pick them up from Weaver Funeral Home & Cremation Services.

​“The cinch-tie ones, you know, you have to kind of put your fingers in that little hole to pull it back open, and when I did that, my fingers kind of raked across something,” she told the outlet. “And when I looked, it looked to be chunks of brain matter on top of the pile of clothing.”

​According to McGilvrey’s suit, obtained by WJHL, the clothes and shoes were worn by her partner when he died and were slicked with “sticky bodily fluid.”

Her son took the bag outside to a fire pit after his mother fainted upon being handed the clothing, the suit goes on to say.

“It took a long time for me to process what happened because it’s just mind-blowing,” McGilvrey said. “It’s so unbelievable, you can imagine. So, after that, I reached out to several different agencies.

“I hope I get some answers, and I hope that there’s different protocols put in place to make sure that this never happens again.”

A lawyer for the funeral home told News Channel 11 they would defend the allegations in court but could not comment on pending litigation.

The other organizations the family contacted include the National Association of Medical Examiners, which was set up to ensure high standards in medicolegal death investigations and carries out voluntary inspections of medical examiners and coroners.

​“NAME told me that it must have been an oversight on their, on their medical examiner’s part,” the widow told WJHL, claiming they told her that the alleged incident “does not violate accreditation standards.”

A spokesperson from the Tennessee department of Commerce and Insurance confirmed to The Independent that it had also received a complaint but did not comment on open investigations. ​The Independent also contacted Weaver Funeral Home & Cremation Services and NAME for comment.

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