Gravestone Falls on Pennsylvania Man, Killing Him

ByTRAVIS FEDSCHUN ABCNews logo
Tuesday, March 31, 2015

A Pennsylvania man was killed Monday after the gravestone he was decorating for Easter fell on top of him.

Stephen Woytack, 74, was hanging a cross on his mother-in-law's headstone at the Saint Joseph's Cemetery in Throop, Pennsylvania, when the stone fell on him, according to a report by ABC News affiliate WNEP-TV.

The cemetery's caretaker, Ed Kubilus, told the television station that Woytack's wife came to him looking for help.

"She came running up, 'Help me, the stone fell on Stephen!'" Kubilus said.

Kubilus added that it's not uncommon for gravestones to shift, as warmer temperatures thaw the ground in spring.

"I've come over and saw six stones fall from the winter. Winter, and the ground gets soft and the stones fall over and you have somebody come and pick them up," Kubilus told WNEP-TV.

Local police told WNEP-TV they believe the incident was a "horrible" accident.

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