Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

Church is dragged into feud over body

A widow embroiled in a family dispute is suing after she was arrested on charges of burying her husband in its cemetery.

By BRADY DENNIS
Published May 21, 2005

	Disputed burial is latest act in family feud (5/20)

TAMPA - A woman arrested Thursday on charges that she buried her husband's body illegally has filed a lawsuit against the church that operates the cemetery, claiming she had the right to bury him there.

Carolyn Hamilton, 60, was released Friday after spending the night in jail on charges of trespassing and theft of services.

Her husband of 22 years, Ralph Hamilton, died on Sunday. Authorities said Carolyn Hamilton, embroiled in a monthslong battle with her husband's family over his guardianship, buried his remains earlier this week in a cemetery near Providence Baptist Church in Riverview.

According to sheriff's reports, no one gave her permission to conduct the burial, nor did she present a death certificate, a permit for burial or proof of ownership of the plot, valued at $800. They also said she removed a locked gate from its hinges and entered the closed cemetery grounds.

On Friday, her attorney called the criminal charges "ludicrous." He said Ralph Hamilton's parents had purchased a family plot there decades ago and that Carolyn Hamilton was accompanied by a sheriff's deputy during the burial.

Friday afternoon, making good on a promise from that morning - "We're going to sue them big time, yes sir," he'd said - attorney N. Burton Williams filed a civil lawsuit against the church on her behalf.

The suit asks a judge to deem the burial proper and to force the church to pay damages to Carolyn Hamilton. It also vows that if she successfully defends herself against the pending criminal charges, she plans to sue the church and seek damages in excess of $1-million. Friday's suit continued the ongoing battle over Ralph Hamilton that started well before his death.

In February, claiming her father had not been receiving his dialysis treatments, Alicia Martinez filed an emergency motion asking for guardianship of him. She claimed her stepmother had over-medicated her father, refused to follow his doctors' instructions and rejected attempts by his daughters and sisters to reach him.

She wrote that Carolyn Hamilton was "deliberately killing" her father. The court awarded Martinez, 34, guardianship. Carolyn Hamilton fought the decision, claiming her husband's family was trying to keep him from his "wife of 22 plus years."

Court records contain codicils to Ralph Hamilton's will, signed by him, in which he berates his daughters for never accepting his wife. Hamilton's daughters called that document a fraud.

On the other side, court documents contain a two-page statement in December, also signed by Ralph Hamilton, claiming his wife had kept him a prisoner in his own home and that she "is hell bent on trying to kill me." Williams on Friday called that document, along with a later petition for divorce, a fraud.

Hamilton died Sunday, days after a fall at his sister's home that led to internal bleeding. Williams said Hamilton's widow plans to sue over that incident, as well.

Months ago, the Florida Department of Children and Families was asked to explore complaints that Carolyn Hamilton abused her husband. Sheriff's deputies also launched an investigation.

Hillsborough State Attorney Mark Ober passed the case along to Manatee County State Attorney Earl Moreland, citing a conflict of interest because Ralph Hamilton's son-in-law works in Ober's office. Officials at Moreland's office could not provide the status of the case Friday afternoon.

In the meantime, no hearing date has been set for Friday's lawsuit. Martinez, Ralph Hamilton's daughter, has said she wants her father's body exhumed to make sure he was embalmed, dressed well and given a proper burial.

The family planned to hold a memorial service for Hamilton on Friday evening.

Times staff writer Shannon Colavecchio Van-Sickler contributed to this report.

[Last modified May 21, 2005, 01:02:05]