Georgia Crematory Operator Apologizes, Offers No Excuse

[LiviaOlivia]

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-marsh20nov20,0,1113318.story?coll=la-home-nation

Georgia Crematory Operator Apologizes, Offers No Excuse
By Ellen Barry
Times Staff Writer

November 20, 2004

To the families hoping to learn why Ray Brent Marsh left hundreds of human bodies to rot on his property instead of cremating them, he gave a flat answer on Friday: There was no reason.

In a plea deal that will mean a sentence of 12 years in prison, Marsh admitted to dumping 334 bodies. He also will write individual letters of apology to the survivors of each person whose corpse was found at his Tri-State Crematory. Had the case gone to trial, he faced the possibility of being sentenced to 8,000 years behind bars.

In February 2002, an anonymous tip led federal authorities to the property in Noble, Ga., where they found bodies stacked in vaults, dumped in pits and entangled in garbage and underbrush. The crematory, it turned out, had been distributing sand, concrete dust and random human ashes to families in place of their loved ones' remains.

<snip>

Marsh will next appear in court for a sentencing hearing on Jan. 31, at which family members will give victim impact statements. He will receive credit for the 12 months he served while awaiting trial, and get his first chance for parole within three to four years, Poston said. He also has been ordered to pay a $20,000 fine.

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[geomon666]

1. 8,000 Years...

for just desecrating already dead corpses. That would put bush's sentence to about 500,000 years for the 100,000+ actually living people he murdered.

[fugue]

3. Yeah, I feel the same way . . .

I don't much care what happens to bodies once they're dead. I am only and very concerned with how they came to be dead.

[Blue_Tires]

2. sick shit

sadly, i've known more than one graveyard that's gotten 'creative' on how to handle the dwindling space on their land...Personally, I've never trusted the industry, and I will make sure they do not get a dime of my $$$$ when i leave here

[0rganism]

4. Wait a minute... how is it easier to dump the bodies than burn them?

"There was no reason."

I agree with Ray. There's no reason. It makes no sense whatsoever. I could see a cemetary doing it the other way around, selling someone a grave and then burning the corpse, but...

There was no reason.

[Starlight]

8. Didn't their crematorium break down?

And they didn't want to pay to get it fixed? Or am I thinking of the FL case?

[Zan_of_Texas]

5. was the place owned by Service Corporation Int'l?

That would be the owners of the outfit that threw the bodies into the woods somewhere in Florida a few years back.

Owner is connected to the Bushes.

Just a hunch -- seems like their MO.

[livinbella]

6. Death thaws slowly

[bobbieinok]

7. any connection to funeralgate in TX while W was governor

[flaminbats]

9. nice that the KKK wishes to kill Marsh..

The discoveries outraged the community. Marsh wore a bulletproof vest at an early court appearance, and in a motion for change of venue, Poston said that Marsh had "information that the Ku Klux Klan, an organization with a chapter in Walker County, has claimed to be 'monitoring' the defendant."

or is it just morbid curiosity?

[CottonBear]

10. No surprise about the KKK.

I grew up in Chattanooga and now live in NE GA. Plenty of KKK around. My mom has a friend who thought that their mom was cremated there at Tri-State. Why didn't he cremate? There must be a reason. Necrophelia? Something even worse? The equipment was not broken.