Couple buried after 15 years in mortuary
Corpses at centre of bizarre legal row laid to rest
THE bodies of a couple held in a mortuary for 15 years in one of Scotland’s most bizarre legal cases have finally been laid to rest.
Hilda Marcel died from lung cancer in 1987.
Seven years later her husband Eugenios also passed away, succumbing to prostate cancer at the age of 91 in 1994.
But in 2002 police discovered the embalmed bodies of the wealthy pair in the basement of a former fishmonger in the capital, owned by their son Melvyn.
A police source said: ‘The bodies had been expertly embalmed and appeared to have been cared for by their son. It was a gruesome discovery and sent a chill down our spines. It was not what we expected to find.’
A huge forensic operation followed but it soon became clear no crime had been committed.
Investigations also determined that death certificates had been issued in accordance with normal procedure.
Officers discovered that the pair had been held at a funeral home until the director retired.
Then they were transferred to Thomas Brown & Sons parlour in Broxburn, West Lothian. According to a source one of two sons regularly visited their bodies there.
Scotmid Co-operative took over Thomas Brown & Sons in the late nineties, prompting Mr Marcel to move the bodies to the property in Edinburgh which he bought in 1999.
After allegations of malpractice were made at the Broxburn parlour, police paid a visit to the address where they discovered the bodies of Mr and Mrs Marcel laid out in open coffins.
Reacting to the news at the time one neighbour said: ‘He was a really strange little man but we never suspected anything like this. I can’t believe those bodies lay there all the time. It’s like something out of a horror movie.’
Another said: ‘He never spoke to anyone. He carried a holdall and seemed a bit weird. We had no idea what was in the shop.’
The bodies of the husband and wife were taken to the City of Edinburgh Council mortuary.
They have been there for the past 15 years as a legal battle raged between the local authority and the relatives of the pair, who have never consented to their burial.
Melvyn Marcel wanted to place the bodies in a fridge at his home until he could build a mausoleum in the property.
He had a long-term aim of having his parents buried in the West Bank in Gaza in the Middle East.
But the legal case came to a head in February, when a court ruled that the council had a ‘statutory duty’ to dispose of the remains.
And earlier this month Mr Marcel lost his final bid to appeal the ruling to the UK Supreme Court.
Edinburgh City Council confirmed the couple had been buried at a funeral at Craigmillar Castle Park Cemetery yesterday.
It is understood that the funeral was a joint ceremony for the pair.