Fourth of July fireworks
2008 Cityfolk Festival
Spotted at the Cityfolk Festival
Wheat has clashed with law enforcement, media
He has been before courts and the funeral board several times in the past 27 years.
Related: Wheels of justice turned slowly in Wheat case
Sunday, May 11, 2008
DAYTON — Wayne Wheat's recent suspension by the Ohio Board of Embalmers and Funeral Directors isn't the first time he's had run-ins with the board, the law or the media.
Court and funeral board records as well as Dayton Daily News archives show a tumultuous time for Wheat over the last 27 years.
Wayne Wheat, owner and president of the House of Wheat Funeral Home at 2107 N. Gettysburg Ave., is prohibited from directing funerals, embalming bodies or running his funeral business until Aug. 1.
The 64-year-old Wheat, owner and president of the House of Wheat Funeral Home at 2107 N. Gettysburg Ave., could not be reached for comment.
Organs in the Great Miami River
In the summer of 1981, two boys found six plastic bags of human organs washed up on the banks of the Great Miami River in West Carrollton.
A county coroner's investigation identified the organs in one bag as those of a Daytonian who died several weeks before the bags were discovered and whose funeral arrangements were handled by the House of Wheat.
Wheat was indicted in May 1982, charged with gross abuse of a corpse, but he prevailed in the end. A jury found him innocent but found the funeral home guilty. A judge later dismissed the guilty conviction, ruling it was inconsistent with the other verdict.
In response to publicity about the case, Wheat and his funeral home in March of that year filed $106 million in libel suits against WHIO-TV (Channel 7). The station had linked Wheat to the organs case prior to the coroner identifying Wheat's funeral home. Wheat claimed the station broadcast stories "with actual malice and reckless disregard for the truth" and hurt his business.
A jury ruled in favor of WHIO in October 1983.
Lucrative land deal
An investigation was launched after Wheat in 1984 purchased 5.1 acres of land in West Dayton for $62,600 and agreed to sell it eight months later to the Kroger Co. for $500,000.
"White people turn those deals in this country for much more money," Wheat, who is black, noted at the time while charging the investigation had been racially motivated. "Five hundred thousand dollars — that's not a hell of a lot of money."
In August 1988, a Montgomery County grand jury found no evidence of wrongdoing in connection with that land deal.
'Unprofessional' conduct
The funeral board fined Wheat $20,000 in 1991 for engaging in "unprofessional and immoral conduct" in relation to the 1990 funeral arrangements and services for Catherine F. Robinson.
According to board records, the board found Wheat had agreed to conduct Robinson's funeral for $2,000, then upped the price $685 when he learned her insurance policy was valued at $5,000 — $3,000 more than his initial understanding with the family. He argued over payment with the family on the church steps on the day of Robinson's funeral, called a family member a racial slur and "deadbeat," and then stopped the burial after the family had left the cemetery.
Robinson ultimately was buried nine days later by H.H. Roberts Funeral Home at a different cemetery. Wheat, who claimed the family tried to cheat him, was never paid for his services.
In a deal with Wheat, the funeral board accepted $10,000 as full payment for the fine. The Robinson family sued Wheat and won a $10,000 award.
Alleged assault
In late 1996, city prosecutors filed charges of aggravated menacing and disorderly conduct against Wheat in connection with an alleged assault against a state funeral home inspector.
The inspector claimed Wheat threw a punch at him while he was conducting an annual inspection of Wheat's funeral home. The inspector said Wheat was still upset over efforts by the state board to yank his licenses over his 1994 federal court conviction on one count of conspiracy to distribute large quantities of cocaine and one count of money laundering.
The prosecutor's charges were withdrawn later that year, but the alleged incident led the funeral board in 1997 to suspend Wheat's embalmer, funeral director and funeral home licenses for one month. Wheat appealed, but there's no record at the funeral board on how the case was resolved.
