SEABROOK, N.H. (AP) – Rockingham County Attorney Jim Reams delayed the cremation in Massachusetts of the late James Fuller, who died of lung cancer a day before he was scheduled to be sentenced in connection with the investigation of the Bayview Crematorium.

Reams said the delay was needed to confirm Fuller’s identity and cause of death, but the action angered Fuller’s family and friends.

“Jim was enrolled in hospice because his doctor said he had terminal lung cancer,” family friend Myra Fowler said. “His death wasn’t sudden. Why did they have to take tests of the body? Wasn’t the death certificate enough? It’s just not right. They didn’t even let Jim have peace after he died.”

Reams said he requested the tests because Fuller was involved in a criminal investigation and that such actions are common. Fuller had worked at the Bayview Crematorium, where investigators had found evidence of improper record keeping and mishandling of corpses last year.

Fuller pleaded guilty in March to fraud-related charges that he photocopied a doctor’s signature on death records to make it appear bodies had been inspected at the Seabrook crematorium. He was to be sentenced Monday and also was expected to testify against others accused in the case.

Fuller’s body was scheduled to be cremated Tuesday morning, according to Scatamacchia Funeral Home in Haverhill, Mass. On Monday, the owner said he received a call from a state trooper telling him not to proceed with the cremation at the request of the Rockingham County Attorney.

An associate medical examiner viewed the body Tuesday afternoon and completed the tests.

Family members argue they should have been notified. They say Fuller was treated unfairly from the start and that Reams pursued Fuller aggressively during the investigation hoping he would testify against owner Derek Wallace, whose case has not yet gone to trial.

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Information from: Eagle Tribune, http://www.eagletribune.com

AP-ES-09-30-06 1313EDT