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USA Today
15-06-2025
- Entertainment
- USA Today
How HBO's 'The Mortician' explores the horrors of the 'business of death'
Watching HBO's "The Mortician" docuseries transported me to my own 2002 funeral story, and memories of the aggressively solemn funeral-home director upselling my distraught mother with increasingly extravagant urns for my father's ashes. To our growing horror, the pinky ring-wearing salesman pushed an absurd marble number with an attached frame featuring a man in a full kilt, Balmoral bonnet and competition bagpipes. My puffy-eyed brother broke the sales spiel with, "But my dad didn't play the bagpipes." The atrocities documented in director Joshua Rofé's three-part series (which concludes Sunday, June 15, 9 ET/PT) about a funeral business gone wildly wrong are far graver than an overpriced urn. The dark, illegal mortuary practices depicted in the series exploded in the 1980s, and brought the once-respected Lamb Funeral Home in affluent Pasadena, California, into scandal, sparking ghoulish legal drama and and coverage on ABC's "Nightline." However, Rofé was inspired to delve into the story because of the trusting customers and neighbors who were preyed upon by the family-owned funeral home at their most vulnerable moments, when dealing with the loss of a loved one. "There was this crazy scandal," Rofé tells USA TODAY. "But I was intrigued by the idea of this family drama being a murder-mystery noir that explores the business of death and everything around that, the grief and loss." Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle. The series centers on David Sconce, the high school football star and fourth-generation Lamb operator. His great-grandfather, Lawrence Lamb, founded the funeral home in 1929, run by Sconce's mother, Laurieanne, and her husband, Jerry. David took over the cremation side of the business in the 1980s and implemented drastic, illegal changes to increase profits. David carried out mass cremations, removed corpses' gold jewelry and dental fillings and illegally harvested corpses' organs for sale, prosecutors charged. In 1989, he pleaded guilty to 21 felony counts, which included violence by his group of employees on rival morticians. Rofé was surprised that Sconce agreed to extensive interviews, which started immediately after he was paroled in 2023 on unrelated 2011 gun charges (Sconce is shown being picked up at the prison gates). "I've interviewed people who the average person would consider scary," says Rofé. "But he was often devoid of humanity. To find someone who just lacks empathy is really hard." While denying most of the egregious charges, Sconce still defends the group cremations, claiming that "comingling of ash" in impossible-to-clean mortuary kilns is unavoidable. 'There's ash in there from dozens of people. It's a fact; it's how things are," Sconce says emphatically in the series premiere. "To me, the commingling of ash is not a big deal. I don't put any value in somebody after they're gone and dead. As they shouldn't when I'm gone and dead. It's not a person anymore." How was Sconce caught in 'The Mortician' In the '80s, Sconce set up a mass illegal cremation center in the remote desert of Hesperia, California. The cremation site was so prolific that a nearby World War II veteran, who had participated in the liberation of the notorious Auschwitz concentration camp, recognized the unmistakable smell of burnt corpses and alerted the police. "He said, 'I smell the burning flesh. That is a smell I will never forget,'" says Rofé. "That is what brings the operation down." Was Sconce's family involved in the illegal activities? Sconce's parents, including his seemingly empathetic mother, were swept up in the charges. This was shocking, considering Laurieanne, the funeral organist, was such an outwardly comforting presence to the mourners at Lamb Funeral Home. She was convicted in 1995 on nine charges, including conspiracy to remove body parts and unlawful authorization of the removal of eyes, hearts, lungs and brains from corpses. Each parent and David served more than three years in prison because of the scandal. "Many eyewitnesses testified that Jerry and Laurieanne were deeply involved," says Rofé. "This is a family drama in the sense that they were all in the trenches together." Have there been changes to prevent the crimes seen in 'The Mortician'? "The Mortician" features funeral professionals who decry the abhorrent practices depicted and point out changes made following the crimes at the Lamb Funeral Home — which had its license revoked by a state board on March 30, 1989, providing the nail in the coffin of the family business. My dear dad's ashes (presumably it's mostly his ashes) have a happy, bagpipe-free home in a simple urn placed in the living room. "The majority of the people in the mortuary business are exactly the type of people you want to encounter in your moment of grief," says Rofé. "But in any business, you run into somebody who cares about nothing but the bottom line. In this series, we examine what happens when that's the business of death."
1News
01-05-2025
- Business
- 1News
Tauranga Marine Precinct sale finalised after court dismisses injunction
The controversial $13.98 million sale of Tauranga's Marine Precinct for a superyacht service development has been settled. The settlement comes two weeks after a High Court judge dismissed the interim injunction that had halted the sale. Tauranga City Council was due to settle its sale of the Sulphur Point property to Christchurch developer Sam Rofe in November, but was halted by the last-minute High Court injunction. It was filed by Sean Kelly, managing director of precinct-based marine service company Pacific 7, on the basis of the displacement of the working boats that use the precinct, and a lack of consultation with precinct users. Justice Peter Andrew's decision, released on April 11, found the arguments for stopping the sale "generally weak" and that claims of a local fishing boat fleet being harmed were "overstated". ADVERTISEMENT Council chief executive Marty Grenfell said Justice Andrew's findings were unambiguous. 'Based on further legal advice, council has now met its legal and contractual obligations with regard to the sale of the precinct,' he said in a statement. Councillors discussed the sale behind closed doors for two hours at a meeting on Monday. Grenfell said the sale gave effect to the council's original intent for the precinct when it was established in 2015. This was to help grow the region's commercial marine sector and create significant economic benefits for the local community, he said. "The reality is that in its current form, the precinct has never achieved its full potential, and ratepayers have been funding ongoing operating losses in the order of $1.5 million a year." Tauranga City Council chief executive Marty Grenfell. (Source: NZME) ADVERTISEMENT The sale committed the purchaser to design, construct and complete development of the precinct so that it met its strategic objectives and established a purpose-built marine service facility, for the wider benefit of the industry and the community, Grenfell said. He said the council would continue to engage with all marine industry stakeholders and ensure the wider interests of the community were met. Rofe approached the council in late 2023 with a proposal to buy the precinct with a vision of it becoming a "premier superyacht refit destination". In a separate statement, Rofe said with the settlement complete his company could begin the transformation works first envisaged by Tauranga in 2014. Rofe said it would deliver a world-class marine precinct that was fit for purpose to provide employment and opportunities in specialist marine services for larger pleasure craft and local commercial vessels. "The Tauranga Marine Precinct will offer all users the same care and respect that is given so generously by the people of Tauranga Moana to all who visit our beautiful city." The first stage of the $11.4 million precinct project opened in 2018. Its development was funded by the council through land sales, and Bay of Plenty Regional Council through the Regional Infrastructure Fund. LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
Scoop
30-04-2025
- Business
- Scoop
Tauranga Marine Precinct Sale Finalised After Court Dismisses Injunction
The controversial $13.98 million sale of Tauranga's Marine Precinct for a superyacht service development has been settled. The settlement comes two weeks after a High Court judge dismissed the interim injunction that had halted the sale. Tauranga City Council was due to settle its sale of the Sulphur Point property to Christchurch developer Sam Rofe in November, but was halted by the last-minute High Court injunction. It was filed by Sean Kelly, managing director of precinct-based marine service company Pacific 7, on the basis of the displacement of the working boats that use the precinct, and a lack of consultation with precinct users. Justice Peter Andrew's decision, released on April 11, found the arguments for stopping the sale 'generally weak' and that claims of a local fishing boat fleet being harmed were 'overstated'. Council chief executive Marty Grenfell said Justice Andrew's findings were unambiguous. 'Based on further legal advice, council has now met its legal and contractual obligations with regard to the sale of the precinct,' he said in a statement. Councillors discussed the sale behind closed doors for two hours at a meeting on Monday. Grenfell said the sale gave effect to the council's original intent for the precinct when it was established in 2015. This was to help grow the region's commercial marine sector and create significant economic benefits for the local community, he said. 'The reality is that in its current form, the precinct has never achieved its full potential, and ratepayers have been funding ongoing operating losses in the order of $1.5 million a year.' The sale committed the purchaser to design, construct and complete development of the precinct so that it met its strategic objectives and established a purpose-built marine service facility, for the wider benefit of the industry and the community, Grenfell said. He said the council would continue to engage with all marine industry stakeholders and ensure the wider interests of the community were met. Rofe approached the council in late 2023 with a proposal to buy the precinct with a vision of it becoming a 'premier superyacht refit destination'. In a separate statement, Rofe said with the settlement complete his company could begin the transformation works first envisaged by Tauranga in 2014. Rofe said it would deliver a world-class marine precinct that was fit for purpose to provide employment and opportunities in specialist marine services for larger pleasure craft and local commercial vessels. 'The Tauranga Marine Precinct will offer all users the same care and respect that is given so generously by the people of Tauranga Moana to all who visit our beautiful city.' The first stage of the $11.4 million precinct project opened in 2018. Its development was funded by the council through land sales, and Bay of Plenty Regional Council through the Regional Infrastructure Fund. - LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
NZ Herald
30-04-2025
- Business
- NZ Herald
Tauranga Marine Precinct sale finalised after court dismisses injunction
Justice Peter Andrew's decision, released on April 11, found the arguments for stopping the sale 'generally weak' and that claims of a local fishing boat fleet being harmed were 'overstated'. Council chief executive Marty Grenfell said Justice Andrew's findings were unambiguous. 'Based on further legal advice, council has now met its legal and contractual obligations with regard to the sale of the precinct,' he said in a statement. Councillors discussed the sale behind closed doors for two hours at a meeting on Monday. Grenfell said the sale gave effect to the council's original intent for the precinct when it was established in 2015. This was to help grow the region's commercial marine sector and create significant economic benefits for the local community, he said. 'The reality is that in its current form, the precinct has never achieved its full potential, and ratepayers have been funding ongoing operating losses in the order of $1.5 million a year.' The sale committed the purchaser to design, construct and complete development of the precinct so that it met its strategic objectives and established a purpose-built marine service facility, for the wider benefit of the industry and the community, Grenfell said. He said the council would continue to engage with all marine industry stakeholders and ensure the wider interests of the community were met. Rofe approached the council in late 2023 with a proposal to buy the precinct with a vision of it becoming a 'premier superyacht refit destination'. In a separate statement, Rofe said with the settlement complete his company could begin the transformation works first envisaged by Tauranga in 2014. Rofe said it would deliver a world-class marine precinct that was fit for purpose to provide employment and opportunities in specialist marine services for larger pleasure craft and local commercial vessels. 'The Tauranga Marine Precinct will offer all users the same care and respect that is given so generously by the people of Tauranga Moana to all who visit our beautiful city.' The first stage of the $11.4 million precinct project opened in 2018. Its development was funded by the council through land sales, and Bay of Plenty Regional Council through the Regional Infrastructure Fund.
