sin-eaters

Sue and I were having a great conversation about Anna Nicole Smith the other day, when the topic of sin-eaters came up. I am fascinated with the idea of a person who is designated to eat the sins of his fellow villagers in order that the deceased can have a clear passage to the afterlife. A couple of years ago, I read or heard a story about how in one community, a sin-eater was nearing death, but no one in the community would step up to be the next sin-eater. So...the sin-eater was approaching death with ALL of the sins of the community members burdening his soul.
I think, if I were to write a paper about this, that the sin-eater could be connected to the character of the scapegoat. Ideas, anyone?