Stephen Woytack (74) was killed by his dead mother-in-law (or her 400lb tombstone)

[Olivia]

A Pennsylvania man who basically died at the hands of his dead mother-in-law Monday will reportedly be laid to rest this week "right in front" of the spot where she killed him.

Ed Kublius, a caretaker at the St. Joseph's Cemetery, tells WNEP 74-year-old Stephen Woytack and his wife, Lucy, liked to visit the cemetery every Easter to pay their respects. Kublius was working nearby Monday when Woytack?tending to his mother-in-law's gravesite?got trapped underneath her gravestone. Via the Times-Tribune:

Stephen and Lucy Woytack were attaching a religious ornament to the stone when it toppled, pinning Mr. Woytack underneath, according to Lackawanna County Coroner Tim Rowland. The warmer weather "made the terrain, monument and its base unstable," Mr. Rowland said in an emailed press release Monday. The coroner listed the manner of death as accidental.

For years, cemetery caretaker Ed Kubilus saw the Woytacks when they visited the gravesite, and he said he knew Mr. Woytack well. After the stone fell on her husband, Mrs. Woytack found Mr. Kubilus on the other side of the cemetery. He called police and rushed to the gravesite, where he tried to lift the 300- to 400-pound granite block, but couldn't. Police arrived a few minutes later, but by then it was too late, he said.
Kublius told the Times-Tribune shifting gravestones can be an issue in the spring when the ground begins to thaw out.

"It's just a freak thing that happened," he told the paper. "It's heartbreaking."

http://gawker.com/pennsylvania-man-k...law-1694889898

[Olivia]

Here's a resconstruction of what happened

[Boston Babe 73]

Holy shitballs. That's crazy.

ETA: I heart TOMO

[SuchAClassicGirl]

Ain't that some shit!

[PeaceBeWithMe]

Someone is getting mega sued.

[Caffeinatedkat]

The fact that it's his mother-in-law makes that just slightly more comical to me.

[bonita]

THROOP ? A man decorating a gravesite for Easter died Monday morning when a headstone fell on him in Lackawanna County.

Police say Stephen Woytack, 74, of Scranton was the man killed at St. Joseph?s Cemetery in Throop.

The cemetery?s caretaker spoke with us shortly after the incident. He says Woytack and his wife decorate the family grave for Easter every year.

Ed Kubilus is the caretaker for St. Joseph?s Cemetery in Throop. Every Easter he can count on seeing the couple from Scranton.

?They tie a cross to it every year, the both of them. And after they?re done tying the cross, they stand there and say prayers and they leave,? said Kubilus.

But this visit, Kubilus says, will stay with him forever.

?Usually I come down and talk to them right away but I went up the other end to start picking up the Christmas ornaments and she came running up, ?Help me, the stone fell on Stephen!'?

Throop police say Stephen Woytack was kneeling beside his mother-in-law?s headstone as his wife was on the other side, tying a cross on with string. The stone fell on Woytack, killing him.

Kubilus says each spring when the ground begins to thaw, some of the bases tilt and the stones on top can slip.

?I?ve come over and saw six stones fall from the winter. Winter, and the ground gets soft and the stones fall over and you have somebody come and pick them up.?

But it was still difficult for Kubilus and first responders to process how this tragedy unfolded. St. Joseph?s is a Catholic cemetery affiliated with the Mary Mother of God parish in Scranton.

Bishop Joseph Bambera of the Diocese of Scranton released this statement:

?It is unimaginable to think that a visit of a faithful couple to the grave of loved ones in anticipation of the celebration of Easter could have ended in such a tragic manner. Our thoughts and prayers are with the deceased and his family.?

Stephen Woytack will be laid to rest in St. Joseph?s Cemetery. Kubilus says his plot is right in front of the headstone that killed him.

?The priest gave them a ride home and gave the man his last rites; I called the rectory up as soon as it happened.?

Throop police say they still have some work to do, but their investigation should be closed soon. The chief says this is just a horrible accident.


source http://wnep.com/2015/03/30/man-kille...roop-cemetery/

[Olivia]

There's a thread on this - I will merge.