Karen Greenlee

Karen Greenlee
Born	1956 (age 60–61)
Occupation	Former apprentice embalmer
Criminal charge	Theft of a hearse and interfering with a funeral
Criminal penalty	$255 fine and 11 days in jail
Motive	Necrophilia

Karen Greenlee (born 1956) is a 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 gender (nine out of ten necrophiles are men) and because of the highly detailed interview she gave about her extensive practice of necrophilia in the anthology book Apocalypse Culture.

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 funeral 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 the movie 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 Dr. 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.

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