buried coffins in shallow graves, and buried bodies on top of one another. According to the Associated Press, "[Army officials] said in some cases a grave marker was not placed soon enough after burial or records were not kept updated, resulting in uncertainty later about the identities of the deceased at some grave sites." In another case, laborers digging in what they thought was an empty grave discovered a coffin already there, and in another four burial urns had been unearthed and dumped in a landfill. Defense Department spokespersons said they were uncertain how many graves might be affected, as records were so sloppily maintained. A CBS News report said that as many as 200 graves might be affected. Army officials said that the mismanagement of graves and burials had gone on "for years". The inspector general's report also accused cemetery officials of lying under oath and engaging in sexual harassment. Deputy cemetery superintendent Thurman Higgenbotham was accused of illegally hacking into a cemetery employee's personnel files. An Army Criminal Investigative Command investigation (completed in May 2009) concluded Higginbotham had also lied to investigators about accessing the employee's files. A report which investigated whether Higginbotham had fired a whistleblower has not yet been released. The report said cemetery officials were also negligent in continuing to use a paper filing system instead of a computerized database to keep track of cemetery operations. A new burial management system was to have been installed which would have "triple verified" burial records, but implementation of the system had lagged significantly. The same day, Army Secretary McHugh relieved Arlington National Cemetery's superintendent, John C. Metzler, Jr., of his position but requested that he continue to oversee cemetery burials and other operations until his planned retirement on July 2, 2010. Higginbotham was placed on administrative leave. (Earlier press reports indicated McHugh would fire both men.) Metzler, who had served for 19 years as cemetery superintendent, admitted some mistakes had been made but denied allegations of widespread or serious mismanagement. Metzler and Higginbotham subsequently retired with full benefits. A reprimand given to Metzler was removed from his personnel file once his retirement became effective. McHugh also announced the creation of a new post, the Executive Director of the Army National Cemeteries Program, to implement the recommendations of the inspector general's report. Kathryn Condon, previously the most senior civilian in the U.S. Army Materiel Command, was appointed to