Dead man applies for embalming job

An American embalmer was early for a job interview at a Carterton funeral home last week despite having died last year.
Richmond Funeral Home director Peter Giddens said yesterday that Allen Kirk Wolford was unsuccessful in his application to work at the Carterton business even though he arrived early and, on paper at least, had all the qualities of an experienced and trustworthy embalmer and funeral director.
"He was very much alive there was no interview with a ghost or anything and he seemed personable, and a nice guy. He didn't look like he had come back from the dead and there was no indication of his background," Mr Giddens said.
"But when we're employing somebody we look for integrity and honesty because we deal with people who are obviously very vulnerable. He seemed to have everything we were looking for it was all just too good to be true," he said. "I looked him up online after the interview and discovered he was probably not suitable for the position."
Wolford, 46, last year faked his death in Colorado to avoid payment of $65,000 in child support arrears and student loans. He was convicted on forgery and impersonation charges but breached bail before he was sentenced and left the country.
He is now wanted by police in the US and has since been sighted in various New Zealand locations, from Kaitaia to Carterton.
Wolford was a former director and embalmer for Evergreen Funeral Home and Blunt Mortuary in Colorado Springs.
He forged his death certificate, citing his date of death as January 16 last year from cardiac arrest at a hospital in the city.
His home address on the certificate was Blunt Mortuary, where he was listed as having been cremated.
Mr Giddens said Wolford had faxed his CV to Carterton from the Philippines last month and, despite a notification from the Funeral Directors Association of New Zealand to be cautious of international work applicants, a date was set for an interview in the town.
"There were no specifics in the notification, like a name, and after reading his CV he seemed a likely candidate for the job. I was wary all the same and Googled his name. That's when it fell apart for him as far as our company was concerned."
Wolford has a criminal history that also includes probation for threatening to kill a judge and is in New Zealand on a visitor's permit until January.
According to an email he sent to an Auckland consultancy, he arrived in the country on October 5 and besides his Carterton visit has also since been sighted in Kaitaia, Auckland and Wellington.
Detective Colin Rudd, of the Wellington branch of Interpol, said investigators are watching Wolford but can not take action unless American authorities sought to extradite him.
Mr Giddens, who has run Richmond Funeral Home beside his wife Jenny for the past 11 years in a service that started in the town in 1887, said the position is still vacant for an embalmer and funeral director though he is confident it will soon be filled.