Prosecutors gather evidence at Galilee cemetery

June 04--Prosecutors covered several areas in and around Galilee Memorial Gardens Wednesday, but declined to talk about their findings or the case involving the cemetery.

Asst. Dist. Atty. Byron Winsett, the lead prosecutor in the case against Galilee owner Jemar Lambert, declined to comment about the identity of a man who accompanied members of Shelby County Dist. Atty. Gen. Amy Weirich's office around the cemetery on Ellis Road in Bartlett.

"While I can't go into any detail because this is a pending case, I can say that there are many steps -- at the cemetery as well as in the courtroom -- that we must take in our effort to see that justice is done," Weirich said in a statement released by her office. "This is a complicated and sensitive case that affects many, many people, and we are committed to giving it the careful attention it deserves."

Authorities have resurveyed the cemetery, adding 2-foot-tall wooden stakes with hot pink ribbons attached to designate the boundary between Galilee and the adjacent property owned by a trust under local businessman and philanthropist Robert Fogelman.

Lambert is charged with theft of property over $60,000, accused of encroaching on the trust property to bury bodies.

A trial before Criminal Court Judge Lee Coffee is set for Aug. 25.

Lambert, who took over operations at Galilee in 2010 after the death of his father, Jesse, faces a second set of charges filed in January, including abuse of a corpse. According to the allegations, Galilee employees under Jemar Lambert's direction buried multiple bodies in the same grave, crushed caskets to create more room and had such poor bookkeeping that officials aren't able to locate bodies relatives had paid Galilee to bury.

The charges filed in January are pending before the Shelby County grand jury. Jemar Lambert remains in custody without bond.

The cemetery east of Germantown Road closed when Lambert was arrested. A Davidson County chancellor granted receivership of the nine-acre cemetery to the state Department of Commerce and Insurance. Former U.S. Atty. David Kustoff was appointed the local representative of the state in the case.

Authorities interviewed the unidentified man at various parts of the cemetery Wednesday. The group stood among markers and artificial floral arrangements designating graves on the trust property next to the cemetery, while a member of the attorney general's office videotaped the discussion.

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