County trying to pay family, settle 2005 case of missing internal organs

The district attorney's office will offer $50,000 to the family of a British man whose organs disappeared after his 2005 death.

The Clark County Commission authorized the DA's office Tuesday to serve an offer of judgment to encourage a settlement with the family of Richard Boorman, a 29-year-old who died of a heart attack fueled by drugs and alcohol in a Mandalay Bay nightclub after flying to Las Vegas from London with three friends to attend a bachelor party.

During the autopsy performed by the county coroner's office, the organs were removed and analyzed by a coroner pathologist. After the coroner's office concluded its examination, it released the body and a viscera bag containing the organs to Nevada Funeral Services.

After the body was embalmed by local mortuaries and sent overseas, a London coroner tried to conduct a review autopsy and noted that the organs were missing.

Boorman's relatives have brought a total of seven claims that include fraud, conspiracy and negligence resulting in emotional distress against the county and the Nevada Memorial Cremation Society, formerly known as Nevada Funeral Service, among other defendants in a federal District Court case.

The county contests liability but is offering to settle the claims to avoid trial expenses and $350,000 in potential recovery costs.