Karen Greenlee
{{short description|American female necrophile (born 1958)}}
{{use American English|date=October 2024}}
{{use mdy dates|date=October 2024}}
{{Infobox criminal
| name = Karen Greenlee
| image = File:Karen Greenlee.jpg
| caption = Greenlee (right) in 1982
| image_size =
| birth_date = {{birth year and age|1958}}
| occupation = Former apprentice embalmer
| criminal_charge = Theft of a hearse and interfering with a funeral
| conviction_penalty = $255 fine and 11 days in jail
| motive = Necrophilia
| comments =
| footnotes =
}}
Karen Margaret Greenlee (born 1958) is an American criminal who was convicted of stealing a hearse and having sex with the corpse it contained. She is considered as the "best-known modern practitioner of necrophilia", and her case was the subject of much research due to her sex as only ten percent of known necrophiles are women, as well as because of the highly detailed interview she gave about her extensive practice of necrophilia in the anthology book Apocalypse Culture.
Early life
Greenlee's father, Al Meyers, said Greenlee had been sexually molested at age 8 and raped by a teacher at 14 while living in Sonoma County, California. Afterwards, Greenlee moved with her family to Colfax, California, where she graduated from high school. Greenlee was married but separated at the time of her arrest. After her arrest, Greenlee worked as a desk-clerk receptionist at a motel in a state in the southwestern United States, but was unemployed at the time of her trial.
Arrest
Greenlee worked as an apprentice embalmer at the Memorial Lawn Mortuary in Sacramento, California. On December 17, 1979, she stole the 1975 Cadillac hearse she was driving to a private burial along with the body of a 33-year-old man (who had died a week before) it was carrying. According to Lynne Stopkewich, who directed Kissed, a film based on Greenlee's story, she was driving the hearse to the funeral as intended until she saw the departed's family, then "did a big donut and took off". She was found days later near Alleghany in Sierra County. According to Robert Rocheleau, the physician who pumped Greenlee's stomach, she was "extremely depressed" and had attempted to commit suicide by overdosing on about 20 pills of Tylenol and codeine but survived. She was found with a four-and-a-half page long written confession where she admitted having had sex with 20 to 40 other bodies of young men, calling it "an addiction".
Because necrophilia was not illegal in California at the time, Greenlee was only accused of stealing the hearse and interfering with a funeral, for which she pleaded guilty and was sentenced to pay a $255 fine and spend 11 days in jail. After her release, her probation included mandatory therapy, which she says helped her make peace with herself. Greenlee and Memorial Lawn Mortuary were sued for $1 million by Marian Gonzales, mother of victim John L. Mercure, for "severe emotional distress". At the Superior Court hearing, the defense psychiatrist Captane Thomson said he did not think the event had "much of a lasting impact" on the victim's mother, who he said had a history of alcoholism and depression. Richard A. Kapuschinsky, a fellow embalmer and former colleague of Greenlee, testified to the jury that "there was no reason to suspect" Greenlee would commit such a crime, describing her as quiet and competent. The lawsuit was eventually settled for $117,000 in general and punitive damages.
Interview
File:Karen Greenlee drawing.png
A few years later in 1987, Greenlee gave a detailed interview entitled The Unrepentant Necrophile about her necrophiliac interests to Jim Morton for his book Apocalypse Culture, published by Feral House. In it, she stated that "[o]ne of my brothers ... still isn't comfortable around me. My other brother was more supportive, but even he had to ask How'd you do it?" She described her appreciation of "the cold, the aura of death, the smell of death, the funereal surroundings" associated with her activity. She further discussed topics such as suicide and psychotherapy. Greenlee later reportedly regretted the interview, changed her identity, and moved to another city.
Cultural impact
Greenlee's story inspired Barbara Gowdy's 1992 short story "We So Seldom Look On Love", which in turn inspired the 1996 Canadian independent film Kissed, directed by Lynne Stopkewich. Like Greenlee, the movie's main character was a young woman working as an embalmer fascinated with dead bodies and who engages in necrophilia. Molly Parker's portrayal of the controversial role earned her an award for "Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role" at the 18th Genie Awards. As of 1996, Greenlee was reported to be touring North America with her poetry, conferencing about necrophilia and sexual liberation.
According to Esoterra, a leading extreme culture and horror magazine of the 90s, Sally Jessy Raphael taped an interview with Greenlee but refused to air it because Greenlee refused to show repentance for her actions. Greenlee described herself as a "morgue rat" and considered necrophilia an addiction.
Greenlee contributed a chapter to The Gospel of Filth, a book detailing the history and occult influences of extreme metal band Cradle of Filth. Greenlee's story was also the inspiration for a "raucous rock musical", entitled The Unrepentant Necrophile and created by The Coldharts,{{cite web|title=The Unrepentant Necrophile – A rock opera by The Coldharts.|url=https://www.thecoldharts.com/unrepentantnecrophile|website=Thecoldharts.com|accessdate=13 November 2017}} presented at festivals like the fourth edition of the Twin Cities Horror Festival, as well as the 2017 Orlando Fringe Festival.{{cite web|last1=Kubersky|first1=Seth|title=Orlando Fringe 2017 review: 'The Unrepentant Necrophile'|url=https://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2017/05/22/orlando-fringe-2017-review-the-unrepentant-necrophile|website=Orlando Weekly|accessdate=13 November 2017|date=22 May 2017}}
References
{{reflist|40em|refs=
{{cite news |last1=Cox |first1=John |title=Stolen Body and Hearse Recovered |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/621230492/ |access-date=31 March 2022 |work=The Sacramento Bee |volume=244 |number=40513 |page=B1 |date=19 December 1979}}
{{cite news|last1=Diaz|first1=Jaime|title=She Admits Sex with Dead|accessdate= March 31, 2022|work=The Sacramento Bee|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/622154782/ |volume=249 |number=41348 |page=B1 |date=3 April 1982}}
{{cite news|last1=Diaz|first1=Jaime|title=Necrophilia Case 'We Do Care,' Her Father Says|accessdate= March 31, 2022|work=The Sacramento Bee|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/622170761 |volume=249 |number=41353 |page=B1 |date=8 April 1982}}
{{cite news |last1=Michelson |first1=Herb |title=The Media and Necrophilia |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/621821139/ |access-date=31 March 2022 |work=The Sacramento Bee |date=23 April 1982 |page=B1 |volume=249 |number=41368 }}
{{cite book|author-first=Jim|author-last=Morton|editor1-last=Parfrey|editor1-first=Adam|editor1-link=Adam Parfrey|title=Apocalypse Culture|date=1990|publisher=Feral House|isbn=978-0922915057|pages=[https://archive.org/details/apocalypsecultu000parf/page/28 28–35]|edition=2nd revised|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/apocalypsecultu000parf/page/28}}
{{cite news|last1=Otten|first1=Michael|title=Body's theft called lightning rod for anger|accessdate= February 24, 2016|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VFpjCwAAQBAJ&q=Body%27s+theft+called+lightning+rod+for+anger&pg=PA35|work=The Sacramento Union|date=March 2012|isbn=9781936239566}}
{{cite web|last1=Wånggren|first1=Lena|title=Gothic sexualities: female necrophilia|url=http://www.gothic.stir.ac.uk/guestblog/gothic-sexualities-female-necrophilia/|website=University of Stirling|accessdate= March 11, 2016|date= May 10, 2013}}
{{cite book|last1=Quigley|first1=Christine|title=The Corpse: A History|date= 2005|publisher=McFarland & Company|isbn=978-0786424498|page=300|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QbRreZuttqMC&pg=PA300}}
{{cite web|last1=Huyck|first1=Ed|title=Twin Cities Horror Festival rolls on in fourth year|url=http://www.citypages.com/arts/twin-cities-horror-festival-rolls-on-in-fourth-year-7787502|website=City Pages|accessdate=29 May 2016|date=29 October 2015}}
|title=Post-Kissed screening talk
|first=Lynne
|last=Stopkewich
|author-link=Lynne Stopkewich
|event=Stopkewich addressing the Directors Guild of Canada after a screening of Kissed
|location=Deluxe Laboratory on Adelaide Street in Toronto
|date=4 November 1996
|quote=She was driving the hearse to the cemetery, but when she saw the family standing there she did a big donut with the hearse and took off.
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5_sxWqBMlbQC&dq=%22Karen+Greenlee%22&pg=PA272
}} (As per Kay Armatage's notes of Stopkewich's speech)
{{cite book|editor-last1=Marchessault|editor-first1=Janine|editor-link1=Janine Marchessault|editor-last2=Armatage|editor-first2=Kay|editor-last3=Banning|editor-first3=Kass|editor-last4=Longfellow|editor-first4=Brenda|display-editors=2|title=Gendering the Nation: Canadian Women's Cinema|date=26 June 1999|publisher=University of Toronto Press|isbn=978-0802041203|page=272|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5_sxWqBMlbQC&q=%22Karen+Greenlee%22&pg=PA272|quote=Today Greenlee, who is also a poet, tours North American with her writing and speaks to groups about necrophilia and sexual liberation.}}
{{cite web|last1=Ramsland|first1=Katherine|title=Abuse of Corpse: Some people prefer the company of the dead.|url=https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/shadow-boxing/201211/abuse-corpse|website=Psychology Today|accessdate= March 11, 2016|date= November 27, 2012}}
{{cite book|author-first=Gavin|author-last=Baddeley|author-link1=Gavin Baddeley|others=Contributions by Dani Filth|title=The Gospel of Filth: A Bible of Decadence & Darkness|date=10 October 2008|publisher=FAB Press|isbn=978-1903254516|title-link=The Gospel of Filth}}
{{cite news|title=Hearse, coffin taker "suicidal"|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2245&dat=19791220&id=QnszAAAAIBAJ&pg=6769,5921270&hl=en|accessdate=2 January 2017|work=Lodi News-Sentinel|date=20 December 1979|location=Lodi, California|page=10|agency=UPI|number=12708 }}
{{cite book|last1=Roach|first1=Mary|authorlink1=Mary Roach|title=Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers|date=27 April 2004|publisher=WW Norton|isbn=978-0393324822|page=43|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XNvkUR5mKoAC&q=%22Karen+Greenlee%22&pg=PA43|accessdate=2 January 2017|quote=When necrophilia's best-known modern-day practitioner, Sacramento mortuary worker Karen Greenlee, (...)}}
{{cite web|last1=Glacial|first1=Rod|language=French|trans-title=Terror on frosted paper|title=Terreur sur papier glacé|url=https://www.vice.com/fr/article/terreur-sur-papier-glace-v8n2|website=Vice News|accessdate=January 2, 2017|date=February 18, 2014|quote=EsoTerra était le meilleur magazine de peur des années 1990.}}
{{cite book|last1=Aggrawal|first1=Anil|authorlink1=Anil Aggrawal|title=Necrophilia: Forensic and Medico-legal Aspects|date=December 7, 2010|publisher=CRC Press|isbn=978-1420089127|pages=137–139|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=b0k2qpfyU8IC&q=%22Karen+Greenlee%22&pg=PA137|chapter=Case Studies – Karen Greenlee|quote=Karen Greenlee is one of the very few—and surely the most widely known—female necrophiles.}}
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Greenlee, Karen}}
Category:20th-century American criminals
Category:American female criminals