David Heilman did not possess a “funeral representative designation,” and he was not Ralph’s funeral representative. Thus, Heilman was not authorized under MCL 700.3206 to cremate and dispose of Ralph’s body; under the statute’s priority provisions, those rights belonged to his son, Kirk, or to Kirk’s children.
Heilman had access to information in Ralph’s home that would have allowed him to contact Kirk before Ralph’s death. However, after Ralph passed away, Heilman did not make any attempt to contact Kirk.
Heilman signed Dykstra Funeral Home paperwork falsely claiming that he was authorized to cremate and dispose of Ralph’s remains, scheduled a memorial for September 22, 2019, and caused the service to be announced online in a way that concealed Ralph’s death and memorial from Kirk.
We allege that Heilman’s conduct is consistent with a violation of MCL 750.218(4), and that since electronic transmissions were used to obtain authorization to cremate and dispose of Ralph's body to conceal his death from Kirk in order to obtain money and property -- this conduct constitutes a predicate act under 18 USC 1343.
The documents concerning Heilman's cremation, disposition and announcement of Ralph's memorial are found at this link: Cremation Documents