Mass. Gen. Laws » Part IV Title I Chapter 272
Massachusetts General Laws

Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 272, § 71 (2026)

Disinterring bodies

✓ text as last checked Sept. 2026 (this copy records no edition or section history)
Find cases: SyfertCases citing this section MAmalegislature.gov (official) JustiaChapter on Justia CornellLII Search CasesGoogle Scholar

Section 71. Whoever, not being lawfully authorized by the proper authorities, wilfully digs up, disinters, removes or conveys away a human body, or the remains thereof, or knowingly aids in such disinterment, removal or conveying away, and whoever is accessory thereto either before or after the fact, shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for not more than three years or in jail for not more than two and one-half years or by a fine of not more than four thousand dollars.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 4 cases (1 in the last 5 years), 2004–2022 · leading case: Church of the Holy Spirit of Wayland v. Marilyn J. Heinrich (& a Companion Case )., 101 Mass. App. Ct. 32 (Mass. App. Ct. 2022).
Sort: Relevance Newest Treatment
Church of the Holy Spirit of Wayland v. Marilyn J. Heinrich (& a Companion Case )., 101 Mass. App. Ct. 32 (Mass. App. Ct. 2022). · cites it 9× “m its obligations to maintain the entombed bodies in place [42-43]; where, in the absence of a governing statute, common-law trust principles applied to the disinterment of human remains from a dedicated burial ground until such time as the families of the deceased have…”
Commonwealth v. Chongarlides, 819 N.E.2d 971 (Mass. App. Ct. 2004). “94C, § 32(a); and removal or conveyance of a human body, G. L. c. 272, § 71. A jury convicted him of all three charges.”
Commonwealth v. Pugh, 25 Mass. L. Rptr. 329 (Mass. Super. Ct. 2009). · cites it 3× “265, §13) and unlawfully conveying away a dead body (G.L.c. 272, §71). 1 These criminal charges stem from the gruesome discovery of the mangled body of an infant boy in the “hopper” of a rubbish disposal truck on January 6, 2007.”
Commonwealth v. Vacher, 27 Mass. L. Rptr. 343 (Mass. Super. Ct. 2010). “265, §15A(b)), and disinter body (G.L.c. 272, §71). The defendant now moves to dismiss the indictments on the ground that the evidence presented to the grand jury did not establish probable cause to support his indictments under Commonwealth v.”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.