CRIME: Stealing from The Dead

For decades the Lamb Funeral Home in Pasadena was one of the most reputable mortuaries in Southern California. Then last January a fire inspector uncovered evidence that Proprietors Laurieanne Sconce, 52, her husband Jerry, 54, and their son David, 32, had found unsavory ways to exploit their growing cremation business. Following a tip, the official visited a ceramics plant owned by the Sconces and discovered burning bodies in kilns. Police believe the Sconces illegally disposed of as many as 16,000 bodies in 1985 and 1986. Last week the Sconces pleaded innocent to 67 criminal offenses, including performing illegal multiple cremations and selling gold fillings and organs from bodies entrusted to their care.

If convicted, Jerry and Laurieanne Sconce face up to eight years in prison. David Sconce, who is also charged with trying to arrange the murder of the district attorney investigating him, could get eleven years in jail.