Tombstone Kills Man: Grave Marker Fell Over as He Decorated for Easter

A 74-year-old man was killed Monday, crushed to death by a tombstone as he hung Easter decorations at a family cemetery plot.

The man, identified by PaHomePage as Stephan Woytack of Scranton, Pennsylvania, and his wife were visiting a relative's gravesite at Saint Joseph's Cemetery in Throop, Pennsylvania.

Woytack was fastening a cross around a tombstone monument when it fell on him, Throop Police Officer Andy Kerecman told the New York Daily News.

"It landed across his waist and it pinned him," Kerecman said. "It probably ... suffocated him or caused internal injuries."

Woytack's wife rushed for help, but the cemetery's caretaker was unable to free him. Woytack was pronounced dead at the scene.

"There is no way that any one person could lift that up," Kerecman told the paper. "It was a pretty heavy stone."

Officials told PaHomePage the tombstone may have been unstable due to recent weather conditions affecting the ground.

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