Pa. coroner trying to link 300 fetal remains to anguished families

PITTSBURGH -- Dozens of women who had abortions or miscarried have contacted the coroner's office to see if their fetuses were among 300 discovered in the garage of a home where a suspended funeral director once lived.

The fetuses were found last week in cardboard boxes, plastic bags and Tupperware-like containers inside the padlocked garage of the home of Robert B. Winston Jr.'s ex-wife.

Winston and his former funeral home, Newman-Winston Memorial Chapel, had a contract with Magee-Womens Hospital from 1999 to 2002 to dispose of fetuses by having them cremated, authorities said.

Winston hasn't been charged. Abuse of a corpse is one charge being considered, but that could depend, among other factors, on the age of the fetuses in question, authorities said. Police did not say why the remains were stored in the garage.

The house and detached garage in McKeesport, just outside Pittsburgh, have been owned since 1993 by Winston's ex-wife, Renee Brooks, who reported finding the fetuses.

The Allegheny County Coroner's office says it will take weeks to examine the fetuses and compare them to records kept at Magee-Womens Hospital, which had contracted with a funeral home to have them cremated.

"We would like to have this done as soon as humanly possible because families are out there wondering," said Chief Deputy Coroner Joseph Dominick.

Some of the remains may never be identified because of abortion confidentiality laws and the massive time and expense that would be needed to perform DNA tests, Dominick said.

Magee-Womens officials didn't immediately return a call Tuesday for comment. Winston also hasn't commented. His attorney, James Ecker, said Winston is cooperating with the investigation. Winston's ex-wife has an unlisted phone.

The Pennsylvania Department of State in March 2004 suspended Winston's license for three years for working for an unlicensed funeral home and for not notifying the state about selling prearranged funeral plans.

State Health Department spokesman Richard McGarvey said hospitals are free to dispose of fetuses as they would other human tissue or organs. But hospitals often contract with funeral homes to dispose of fetuses to spare their staff from doing it, McGarvey said.

Fetuses more than 16 weeks old are issued fetal death certificates, except in the case of elective abortions, when a less-detailed record is kept certifying primarily that the fetus didn't die as a result of maternal trauma, Dominick said.