Crime Scene Cleanup And Classical Music Come Together In Weird Advertisements

Weird Advertisements Bring Together Classical Music And Crime Scene Cleanup

By Tim McLaughlin

BOSTON, Dec 27 (Reuters) - Who says beautiful music andblood spatter cleanup can't go together.

When Chorus North Shore performs Handel's Messiah or Verdi'sRequiem, the Boston-area group usually can count on TimothyRiley and his crime scene cleanup business for moral andeconomic support.

Riley, for example, recently advertised his company's "crimeand death scene cleaning" in the playbill of Chorus NorthShore's Handel's Messiah performance at two Catholic churchesnorth of Boston.

Next to ads by a local dentist and a prep school, Riley'sad featured specialties that include suicide and bodydecomposition cleanup and automobile deodorization.

It's a jarring combination, to be sure, but Riley said hehas been supporting the chorus group for years.

"My wife is one of the singers," Riley told Reuters in atelephone interview. "I really haven't gotten any business fromit. An ad costs me something like 50 or 75 dollars."

Riley said no one has complained to him about having his adsin the back of performance playbills.

"Most of the chorus members I've talked to think it'sabsolutely hilarious," Riley laughed.

"I try to have a good sense of humor. You can't becompletely serious all of the time in this business or you'd gocrazy. It's not one of those businesses you think of until youneed it."

Riley started CADSC Inc. in 1998 after working 27 years as ascience teacher. He said crime scene cleanup accounts for about6 percent of his business, while about half is what hedescribed as "filthy living or pooh related."

"We deal with hoardings, bird droppings, human droppings,"Riley explained. "We average about 20 jobs a month."

He said the work can be painstaking and tedious. A shotgunsuicide, for example, can be especially difficult.

"You have to look at every square inch. Things goeverywhere," Riley said. (Editing by Jerry Norton)

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