An internal investigation has determined that Allegheny County coroner's office employees were responsible for a mistake that resulted in a funeral home cremating a body bag filled with a homicide victim's clothing weighted with chunks of concrete.

But a deputy coroner who signed off on the release said an unsupervised intern actually turned over the clothing in violation of coroner's office rules, a practice that has been tacitly accepted by senior management.

Deputy Coroner Alesia Roskov said she accepted responsibility for the mix-up, but alleged that office rules governing interns and the release of bodies were routinely flouted with the knowledge of management.

"The protocol reads one way, but functions in a different way," said Roskov. She said she felt she needed to speak out about the mistake, even though it could cost her her job.

The mix-up relates to the death of Chad Mulvin in July 2004. Police said Mulvin was shot dead by his roommate at their Pennsbury Village home after a dispute over a bar tab. Investigators arrested Joseph Larkin, whom they say buried Mulvin in a makeshift grave in Larkin's mother's back yard after covering his body with a quick-forming concrete.

On the afternoon of July 13, 2004, a body bag was released to McCabe Funeral Home of Derry, which was to handle cremation of Mulvin's remains and forward them to the McGorray Bros. Co. funeral home in Lakewood, Ohio, where Mulvin's mother lives.

Nine months later, Mulvin's body was discovered at the coroner's officein a basement freezer that is used for decomposed remains.

A chemical analysis showed that the cremated materials were Mulvin's clothing and some of the concrete that had covered his body, Senior Deputy Coroner Joseph Dominick said.

At the time the remains were to be released, protocol dictated that a funeral director and deputy coroner identify a body by opening the body bag, matching the face against a photograph taken at the time the corpse was brought into the office, and checking the name on a wristband.

"The deputy coroners that were involved in releasing remains simply did not follow the standard operating procedure of the office," Dominick said. "They released the bag without checking its contents."

Interns are not supposed to release bodies to funeral directors but often have done so without the presence of a deputy coroner, Roskov said.

She also said that deputy coroners are supposed to identify remains before turning them over to a funeral home, after which they are to fill out required paperwork and initial a photograph of the deceased. But Roskov said that deputy coroners oftentimes filled out the necessary paperwork before releasing a body because they are understaffed.

"It's all of management. They're completely aware of what happens there," Roskov said.

Dominick disputed Roskov's claims but did not rule out the possibility that interns released bodies against protocol.

"I have not personally observed that, but there is a possibility that happens. Quite honestly, in this situation, that's what appears to have gone on," he said.

"I have never given anyone the authorization for an intern to release a body, and I don't intend to do that," Dominick said.

Dominick denied Roskov's assertion that deputy coroners are understaffed.

As for deputy coroners signing off on the release of a body without actually seeing the remains, Dominick said: "Apparently it was something that was a practice, even though it was not standard operating practice."

Dominick said that since the Mulvin case was brought to his attention in April, the office policy governing interns and releasing bodies has been tightened. The new policy requires that a second wristband must be removed from the body, placed into a plastic bag and stored with the case file.

"There's no possible way for them to release a body without taking that off," Dominick said.

Also, the coroner's office will now store evidence such as clothing in fluorescent orange body bags, while bodies will continue to be kept in royal blue bags.

Dominick refused to identify any employees involved in the snafu or how many there were. It was unclear yesterday how a funeral director could mistake clothing -- even made heavier by concrete -- for a body.

Officials from McCabe Funeral Home could not be reached for comment.

Dominick said he had spoken to the employees involved; however he also said he did not know how many interns were on duty the day of the release and did not speak with them because they were "long gone."

Ultimately, he said, the buck stops with a deputy coroner, not an unpaid intern.

"The deputy coroner is the one responsible. Interns are not employees of this office. They are not employees of the county," Dominick said.

Roskov said a female intern released the body, but she could not identify the intern.

Roskov, 27, of East Pittsburgh, who has worked for nearly two years as a deputy coroner, said she has not been disciplined for the incident.

"I cannot say I didn't play a role. I most certainly did have some kind of limited involvement. Paperwork -- the necessary paperwork that needs to be signed to release the body -- I signed it," Roskov said. "I should have known better. I'm really kicking myself in the butt now."

Roskov said she cried about the incident and felt terrible for Mulvin's family. She said she was worried about coming forward publicly.

"I really want some reform. I really want things like that to not happen" Roskov said. "I'm taking a big gamble. It's very likely I can be reprimanded for this [speaking publicly] or even fired."