- Lance Peck, former Downard Funeral Home owner, pleaded guilty to multiple felonies on Thursday.
- He was charged after an investigation found multiple misplaced or unidentified bodies at the Idaho business.
- His sentencing is set for Sept. 11; the plea recommends a sentence of 3-10 years in prison.
POCATELLO — The former owner of Downard Funeral Home appeared in court Thursday to change his plea after accepting an agreement from prosecutors in May.
Lance Peck, who wore an oxygen tank backpack, stood before District Judge Javier Gabiola to change his original not guilty plea to guilty as per the agreement.
Under the agreement, Peck pleaded guilty to the following crimes.
Felonies
- Idaho State income tax evasion
- Perjury
- Offering false or forged instrument for record
- Access or use to defraud or obtain money or services by fraudulent pretenses
- Grand theft by deception, vital statistic furnish false information accept record
Misdemeanors
- Three counts of unprofessional conduct by morticians, funeral directors or embalmers
- Unlawful control of the disposition of the remains of a deceased person
- Knowing violation of a mortician or funeral director.
Peck's remaining charges were dismissed.
The agreement recommended a sentence of between three and 10 years in prison. The agreement is binding, so if the court does not follow it, Peck can withdraw his plea.
A report was made in July 2021 after a representative from Idaho State University reported to Pocatello police that a number of cadavers that families had donated for scientific research hadn't been delivered to the university by the funeral home. They also discovered that at least one body hadn't been returned to the family afterward.
During a police raid of the funeral home, police found several bodies, one of which was decaying on the floor of the garage. There were also 11 bodies attached to altered documents, and one body had no documentation at all. A significant number of other irregularities were found related to the disposal of remains.
During the hearing, Gabiola asked Peck for a list of mental health disorders he had been diagnosed with. Peck said he has anxiety, depression, dependent personality disorder and suicidal ideation.
Gabiola had Peck give statements describing what he did on each of the charges he pleaded guilty to. As Peck began to give a statement, the prosecution objected that it was too narrative.
"Things began to go bad for me when I decided to buy Downard Funeral Home," Peck said before the objection.
When Peck spoke about the charges involving his financial records, he told the court he did not have a good understanding of how taxes work and that, as the owner of the business, he should have known better.
When he spoke about the charge of providing a family with the incorrect remains, Beck admitted to never sending the remains to the family.
"I was disorganized. I must have mislabeled him or lost track of him," Peck said. "I never delivered those cremates to the family."
He told the court that after he had picked up the remains of the individual, he had taken it to a different funeral home to be cremated, as he did not have a working retort (cremation chamber).
He later stated that an explosion had occurred in his retort, which required him to use other funeral homes for cremations.
Peck later said that he used whiteout on transit forms instead of working with the county coroner or the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare.
Peck is scheduled to appear before Gabiola for his sentencing on Sept. 11.
