1 00:00:06,960 --> 00:00:15,600 Speaker 1: Diversion audio. This episode contains mature content and quite graphic 2 00:00:15,680 --> 00:00:19,400 Speaker 1: descriptions of violence that may be disturbing for some listeners. 3 00:00:20,360 --> 00:00:29,280 Speaker 1: Please take care in listening. Dave Edwards was an ex 4 00:00:29,320 --> 00:00:34,239 Speaker 1: football player and a driver for the Pasadena Crematorium. He 5 00:00:34,320 --> 00:00:37,520 Speaker 1: drove the truck that picked up cadavers and unloaded them 6 00:00:37,560 --> 00:00:40,960 Speaker 1: at the business for cremation. Dave was on the road 7 00:00:41,000 --> 00:00:43,440 Speaker 1: a lot, so he didn't spend much time at the 8 00:00:43,440 --> 00:00:48,199 Speaker 1: crematorium nor the Lamb Funeral Home. Not long after his 9 00:00:48,280 --> 00:00:52,879 Speaker 1: start date, Dave witnessed a money making scheme that he 10 00:00:52,920 --> 00:00:57,120 Speaker 1: would rank second in the most revolting side hustles he 11 00:00:57,280 --> 00:01:03,880 Speaker 1: experienced working there. Sconce the manager of the crematorium, often 12 00:01:04,000 --> 00:01:11,280 Speaker 1: talked about quote making the pliers sing, popping chops, and 13 00:01:11,400 --> 00:01:16,720 Speaker 1: going to the mine. David's side hustle was yanking gold 14 00:01:16,800 --> 00:01:20,720 Speaker 1: teeth from the jaws of the deceased and selling the 15 00:01:20,760 --> 00:01:26,399 Speaker 1: gold at his buddy's pawn shop. The standard operating procedure 16 00:01:26,560 --> 00:01:33,040 Speaker 1: at Pasadena Crematorium was to examine all incoming bodies. David 17 00:01:33,120 --> 00:01:37,080 Speaker 1: usually did it himself, but if he wasn't there, his 18 00:01:37,200 --> 00:01:41,839 Speaker 1: employees did it. If they saw gold teeth, they marked 19 00:01:41,880 --> 00:01:45,600 Speaker 1: the body bag with a smiley face, along with the 20 00:01:45,720 --> 00:01:52,400 Speaker 1: chemical element abbreviation AU. David Pride rigor mortis. Jaws open 21 00:01:52,720 --> 00:01:57,000 Speaker 1: with a screwdriver. Usually, if that didn't work, he'd grab 22 00:01:57,040 --> 00:02:02,320 Speaker 1: a crowbar. Dave said he could hear a man's jaws 23 00:02:02,400 --> 00:02:06,240 Speaker 1: crack from across the room. With a set of pliers, 24 00:02:06,680 --> 00:02:12,160 Speaker 1: David extracted the teeth. He dropped them into whatever receptacle 25 00:02:12,280 --> 00:02:19,359 Speaker 1: was nearby. Usually it was a used styrofoam cup, sometimes 26 00:02:19,520 --> 00:02:24,800 Speaker 1: a tin can. One day, David left the cold room 27 00:02:24,880 --> 00:02:28,160 Speaker 1: whistling and walked into the office where his mother worked. 28 00:02:29,600 --> 00:02:33,520 Speaker 1: Lori Anne looked up from her paperwork, smiled, and asked, 29 00:02:34,240 --> 00:02:39,080 Speaker 1: how much AU did you get today, honey? David cheosed 30 00:02:39,120 --> 00:02:41,880 Speaker 1: like a proud child and shook a half cup of 31 00:02:41,919 --> 00:03:03,400 Speaker 1: gold teeth in her face. Welcome to the greatest true 32 00:03:03,400 --> 00:03:09,560 Speaker 1: crime stories ever told. I'm Mary Kay McBrayer. Today's episode 33 00:03:09,639 --> 00:03:14,000 Speaker 1: we're calling the Criminal Cremators. It's the story of a 34 00:03:14,080 --> 00:03:19,400 Speaker 1: family business, the Lamb Family Funeral Home, which wanted to 35 00:03:19,440 --> 00:03:24,960 Speaker 1: be a booming business so badly that they allegedly circumvented 36 00:03:25,160 --> 00:03:29,720 Speaker 1: a lot of laws and even more ethics for their profits. 37 00:03:30,280 --> 00:03:32,640 Speaker 1: I'll tell you all about it after this quick break, 38 00:03:51,480 --> 00:03:55,440 Speaker 1: let's talk about only children. I should preface this by 39 00:03:55,480 --> 00:03:59,160 Speaker 1: saying I grew up an only child, so I'm allowed 40 00:03:59,160 --> 00:04:02,560 Speaker 1: to say all of this. Yes, Typically we fall into 41 00:04:02,640 --> 00:04:08,040 Speaker 1: two categories. We're known as being either really weird and withdrawn, 42 00:04:08,840 --> 00:04:14,280 Speaker 1: or we only children are unconscionably childishly selfish and in 43 00:04:14,360 --> 00:04:18,520 Speaker 1: desperate need of your full attention all the time. I 44 00:04:18,680 --> 00:04:22,839 Speaker 1: likely fall into that first category. I was one hundred 45 00:04:22,880 --> 00:04:26,400 Speaker 1: percent the kid who liked when recess was rained out 46 00:04:26,560 --> 00:04:28,760 Speaker 1: so I could read my book on the classroom floor. 47 00:04:30,000 --> 00:04:33,080 Speaker 1: In my defense, I had a thousand cousins to help 48 00:04:33,120 --> 00:04:36,279 Speaker 1: break me of this habit and parents who would not 49 00:04:36,440 --> 00:04:42,640 Speaker 1: tolerate bad behavior, so I was socialized to near normalcy. 50 00:04:42,720 --> 00:04:46,719 Speaker 1: I'm no selfless saint, but I do generally know how 51 00:04:46,760 --> 00:04:50,159 Speaker 1: to interact with people and the world. I know it 52 00:04:50,200 --> 00:04:54,320 Speaker 1: doesn't always revolve around me, and I'm pretty good at sharing. 53 00:04:55,720 --> 00:04:59,880 Speaker 1: Don't get me wrong. I would have absolutely never let 54 00:05:00,160 --> 00:05:03,200 Speaker 1: anyone else ever play with my toys if they hadn't 55 00:05:03,200 --> 00:05:07,400 Speaker 1: made me, if I hadn't been forced to share the stage, 56 00:05:07,720 --> 00:05:10,000 Speaker 1: I would wonder what the hell everyone was looking at 57 00:05:10,000 --> 00:05:14,080 Speaker 1: when Hello, I'm over here, all of us? Would I 58 00:05:14,160 --> 00:05:18,560 Speaker 1: think resort to this kind of self aggrandizement without course correction. 59 00:05:19,600 --> 00:05:22,839 Speaker 1: So my relatively well adjusted nature is not really a 60 00:05:22,880 --> 00:05:27,320 Speaker 1: credit to me so much as my parents. In this story, 61 00:05:27,800 --> 00:05:32,040 Speaker 1: the angry only child is the main perpetrator. His name 62 00:05:32,160 --> 00:05:36,920 Speaker 1: is David Scance. But because our show focuses on women 63 00:05:37,000 --> 00:05:40,320 Speaker 1: in true crime, though, there are a couple other key 64 00:05:40,400 --> 00:05:45,080 Speaker 1: characters at play. One is a key witness. She was 65 00:05:45,120 --> 00:05:48,080 Speaker 1: a former employee who was fired after asking too many 66 00:05:48,160 --> 00:05:51,760 Speaker 1: questions about the legitimacy and ethics of the company's practices. 67 00:05:52,880 --> 00:06:03,480 Speaker 1: And the other is, of course, David's mother. Lori Anne Lamb, 68 00:06:04,000 --> 00:06:08,599 Speaker 1: was the second generation in the family business. She also 69 00:06:08,680 --> 00:06:11,600 Speaker 1: had three siblings in line to take over, but her 70 00:06:11,600 --> 00:06:16,120 Speaker 1: two brothers were not interested. Her sister died tragically in 71 00:06:16,160 --> 00:06:18,680 Speaker 1: a plane crash before she could say one way or 72 00:06:18,720 --> 00:06:22,880 Speaker 1: the other, and this is relevant later, I promise, so 73 00:06:22,920 --> 00:06:25,880 Speaker 1: her parents groomed Lorianne to take over. When they retired, 74 00:06:27,120 --> 00:06:30,000 Speaker 1: she worked in the funeral home with her husband, Jerry Sconce. 75 00:06:31,120 --> 00:06:35,599 Speaker 1: Lori Anne was the church organist, Jerry was the Bible 76 00:06:35,680 --> 00:06:39,839 Speaker 1: school football coach. Our sources say that they were the 77 00:06:39,920 --> 00:06:45,479 Speaker 1: types to cite scripture during typical conversations, but especially when 78 00:06:45,480 --> 00:06:49,839 Speaker 1: consoling the bereaved. The business itself was well known, as 79 00:06:49,920 --> 00:06:53,760 Speaker 1: funeral homes tend to be locals, use the same businesses 80 00:06:53,800 --> 00:06:57,599 Speaker 1: over and over. Almost all their business is customer retention 81 00:06:57,920 --> 00:07:01,719 Speaker 1: from families, and most new referrals come from word of mouth, 82 00:07:02,200 --> 00:07:07,600 Speaker 1: because it's kind of ghosh to advertise death. That's not 83 00:07:07,640 --> 00:07:09,960 Speaker 1: to say there were no other funeral homes in the 84 00:07:10,000 --> 00:07:14,360 Speaker 1: Pasadena area, of course there were. It's just like, well, 85 00:07:14,600 --> 00:07:16,800 Speaker 1: when your car breaks down on the side of the street, 86 00:07:17,080 --> 00:07:19,480 Speaker 1: what do you do? You call your insurance, They send 87 00:07:19,480 --> 00:07:22,840 Speaker 1: a tow truck. The tow truck takes your car to 88 00:07:22,920 --> 00:07:28,760 Speaker 1: the nearest in network service shop. You, the driver, are distraught. 89 00:07:29,000 --> 00:07:31,040 Speaker 1: What are you going to do? Sit in the waiting 90 00:07:31,080 --> 00:07:33,680 Speaker 1: room of one autobody shop while you get a few 91 00:07:33,680 --> 00:07:37,960 Speaker 1: more quotes, spend another day retoe in your car, and 92 00:07:38,000 --> 00:07:41,760 Speaker 1: then hope the cheaper option services you just as well. No, 93 00:07:42,640 --> 00:07:46,720 Speaker 1: you have other concerns. Where can I rent a replacement vehicle? 94 00:07:47,160 --> 00:07:48,920 Speaker 1: Can I get it in time to pick my kids 95 00:07:49,000 --> 00:07:51,840 Speaker 1: up from school? How do I get time off work 96 00:07:51,880 --> 00:07:56,520 Speaker 1: to handle this? How do I get groceries? It's similar 97 00:07:56,800 --> 00:08:01,200 Speaker 1: when a loved one dies, but more now you have 98 00:08:01,280 --> 00:08:05,680 Speaker 1: bigger issues to deal with, plus the basics. Not to 99 00:08:05,720 --> 00:08:10,000 Speaker 1: mention the obvious, you're probably devastated with grief in addition 100 00:08:10,120 --> 00:08:13,760 Speaker 1: to all that stress. Where you send the business is 101 00:08:13,800 --> 00:08:16,680 Speaker 1: a small concern in the bigger picture of your life. 102 00:08:17,800 --> 00:08:20,120 Speaker 1: You just want to honor your dead, and for that 103 00:08:20,800 --> 00:08:24,920 Speaker 1: you go to a place you trust. Hopefully you're dearly 104 00:08:24,960 --> 00:08:29,520 Speaker 1: departed gave you a reference and removed the guesswork. All 105 00:08:29,560 --> 00:08:33,560 Speaker 1: that to say, the Scoance family's funeral home was well established, 106 00:08:34,240 --> 00:08:37,280 Speaker 1: especially because they were three generations running and most of 107 00:08:37,320 --> 00:08:41,319 Speaker 1: their clientele was elderly. They were doing well, but they 108 00:08:41,320 --> 00:08:45,000 Speaker 1: weren't an empire by any stretch. And then Lori, Anne 109 00:08:45,040 --> 00:08:50,080 Speaker 1: and Jerry's only child, David Scoance, had an idea. David 110 00:08:50,080 --> 00:08:53,600 Speaker 1: had been a high school football player. He was apple pie, handsome, 111 00:08:54,000 --> 00:08:57,600 Speaker 1: the homecoming king type who was generally lucky and things 112 00:08:57,640 --> 00:09:00,760 Speaker 1: generally went his way. After high school, he went to 113 00:09:00,800 --> 00:09:04,640 Speaker 1: embalming school. But David wasn't great at that and he 114 00:09:04,760 --> 00:09:08,199 Speaker 1: didn't really like it. Things weren't falling into place for 115 00:09:08,320 --> 00:09:13,160 Speaker 1: him now, so he forced them. In my experience at athletes, 116 00:09:13,200 --> 00:09:15,800 Speaker 1: they tend to do this. They want their way, so 117 00:09:15,840 --> 00:09:18,600 Speaker 1: they ask for it. If they get turned down, they 118 00:09:18,640 --> 00:09:22,480 Speaker 1: ask again, and rather than regrouping and trying a different tack, 119 00:09:22,800 --> 00:09:25,760 Speaker 1: they just turn up the volume. They try the same 120 00:09:25,840 --> 00:09:29,560 Speaker 1: thing over and over. In sports, that is a lot 121 00:09:29,559 --> 00:09:32,120 Speaker 1: of how you train. Not fast enough, run it again, 122 00:09:32,520 --> 00:09:35,280 Speaker 1: not strong enough, do it again, try it over and 123 00:09:35,360 --> 00:09:38,280 Speaker 1: over until you do it. And one of the things 124 00:09:38,320 --> 00:09:41,319 Speaker 1: about only children is that we don't hear no a lot, 125 00:09:41,960 --> 00:09:45,640 Speaker 1: or at least we take no as a try harder. 126 00:09:47,000 --> 00:09:49,680 Speaker 1: So handsome David Scott's has an idea to take his 127 00:09:49,760 --> 00:10:02,080 Speaker 1: family's funeral business to the next level. Up until nineteen 128 00:10:02,120 --> 00:10:06,199 Speaker 1: sixty eight, about four point one percent of bodies were cremated, 129 00:10:06,960 --> 00:10:11,640 Speaker 1: But in California things were changing. By the mid nineteen eighties, 130 00:10:12,080 --> 00:10:15,240 Speaker 1: about thirty four percent of the bodies were cremated, and 131 00:10:15,240 --> 00:10:19,720 Speaker 1: that's a huge upsling. David presented his idea in nineteen 132 00:10:19,800 --> 00:10:24,400 Speaker 1: eighty two as the percentages were rising. He wanted to 133 00:10:24,400 --> 00:10:28,840 Speaker 1: start a cremation service. You might be thinking that actually 134 00:10:29,000 --> 00:10:33,160 Speaker 1: sounds smart, and it was, but the details made no sense. 135 00:10:34,080 --> 00:10:37,199 Speaker 1: David's idea was to undercut the rates of their competitors, 136 00:10:37,280 --> 00:10:42,320 Speaker 1: charging just fifty five dollars per cremated corpse. That included 137 00:10:42,520 --> 00:10:46,720 Speaker 1: picking up bodies and returning the remains. The ovens in 138 00:10:46,760 --> 00:10:51,480 Speaker 1: which bodies are cremated are called retorts. The Lamb Funeral 139 00:10:51,520 --> 00:10:56,520 Speaker 1: Home only had two retorts, depending on the ovens efficiency, 140 00:10:57,080 --> 00:11:01,840 Speaker 1: one body took two hours to cremate at best, that 141 00:11:01,960 --> 00:11:05,120 Speaker 1: was twenty four bodies per day. If they had zero 142 00:11:05,200 --> 00:11:08,880 Speaker 1: down time, which is impossible, that was thirteen hundred and 143 00:11:08,880 --> 00:11:12,840 Speaker 1: twenty dollars. And if they ran their business round the clock, 144 00:11:13,600 --> 00:11:15,800 Speaker 1: they'd have to hire more help than that would pay for. 145 00:11:17,240 --> 00:11:22,440 Speaker 1: So smart idea poor execution. But his parents didn't say no. 146 00:11:24,000 --> 00:11:26,840 Speaker 1: They just pointed out those facts, thinking maybe he would 147 00:11:26,960 --> 00:11:32,559 Speaker 1: draw his own conclusion of no. And David came back with, yeah, 148 00:11:32,559 --> 00:11:34,800 Speaker 1: but who's saying we can only do one body at 149 00:11:34,800 --> 00:11:37,680 Speaker 1: a time. What if he filled the oven to the 150 00:11:37,720 --> 00:11:42,040 Speaker 1: max as many bodies as it would fit, Even if 151 00:11:42,040 --> 00:11:44,720 Speaker 1: he burned just five or six bodies at a time, 152 00:11:45,200 --> 00:11:48,240 Speaker 1: with both ovens running, that was six hundred and sixty 153 00:11:48,280 --> 00:11:52,440 Speaker 1: dollars per burn. That's good money. Again, they didn't say no. 154 00:11:53,559 --> 00:11:57,760 Speaker 1: Lorenne pointed out the very obvious problem if they were 155 00:11:57,800 --> 00:12:00,560 Speaker 1: all cremated at once, there would be no way to 156 00:12:00,640 --> 00:12:05,000 Speaker 1: separate their remains, then they couldn't be sure their customers 157 00:12:05,040 --> 00:12:10,199 Speaker 1: received the remains of their loved ones. David said, quote, 158 00:12:11,280 --> 00:12:14,680 Speaker 1: how can you tell if the remains are mixed anyway? 159 00:12:14,760 --> 00:12:30,319 Speaker 1: What difference does it make they're dead? I probably don't 160 00:12:30,360 --> 00:12:32,439 Speaker 1: have to say this aloud, but this is when David 161 00:12:32,440 --> 00:12:34,880 Speaker 1: should have been grounded, or at least sent to time out, 162 00:12:35,520 --> 00:12:39,760 Speaker 1: or at the very very least told no. What he 163 00:12:39,840 --> 00:12:43,600 Speaker 1: suggested was not only unethical, which should be obvious to 164 00:12:43,640 --> 00:12:48,320 Speaker 1: anyone at all, but also illegal, and yet they indulged. 165 00:12:49,559 --> 00:12:53,199 Speaker 1: Many of the Lamb's competing funeral homes had embalming services 166 00:12:53,240 --> 00:12:58,360 Speaker 1: on site, but very few had cremation retorts. They essentially 167 00:12:58,520 --> 00:13:02,800 Speaker 1: had to outsource the business of cremations to other specialty providers. 168 00:13:03,480 --> 00:13:08,199 Speaker 1: It still usually cost one thousand dollars, but if Lamb's 169 00:13:08,400 --> 00:13:12,040 Speaker 1: was only charging fifty five per body, that was a 170 00:13:12,160 --> 00:13:16,160 Speaker 1: huge margin for the other funeral homes. It's grimm to 171 00:13:16,160 --> 00:13:19,320 Speaker 1: think about, but it was business, and the families of 172 00:13:19,360 --> 00:13:22,320 Speaker 1: the deceased were notified of this change in location by law, 173 00:13:23,480 --> 00:13:26,960 Speaker 1: so those funeral homes were not doing anything wrong or illegal. 174 00:13:27,360 --> 00:13:32,679 Speaker 1: Just grizzly. David had to hire a bunch of unscrupulous 175 00:13:32,720 --> 00:13:36,160 Speaker 1: guys to carry out his dirty work. They were completely 176 00:13:36,200 --> 00:13:39,920 Speaker 1: separate from Lurianne's office crew because most of the work 177 00:13:39,960 --> 00:13:42,600 Speaker 1: would be done at the crematorium a few miles away 178 00:13:42,720 --> 00:13:47,719 Speaker 1: in Altadena. And when you hire unscrupulous people, things tend 179 00:13:47,800 --> 00:13:51,679 Speaker 1: to get sloppy. Let me tell you just how sloppy 180 00:13:51,720 --> 00:14:09,440 Speaker 1: they got. Right after this break when we left off, 181 00:14:10,160 --> 00:14:13,440 Speaker 1: David had just hired a new crew. They picked up 182 00:14:13,480 --> 00:14:17,440 Speaker 1: bodies in trucks and hearses, which was normal, and then 183 00:14:17,480 --> 00:14:20,120 Speaker 1: they'd store them in the cold room until they had 184 00:14:20,240 --> 00:14:25,400 Speaker 1: enough to fill the retort. Yep, they'd fill the retort. 185 00:14:26,680 --> 00:14:29,360 Speaker 1: Not only was it not the single cremation that the 186 00:14:29,400 --> 00:14:33,240 Speaker 1: families had been promised, but the workers made a game 187 00:14:33,600 --> 00:14:37,600 Speaker 1: of how many bodies they could wedge into the oven. Naturally, 188 00:14:37,960 --> 00:14:42,040 Speaker 1: the bodies sometimes got stuck, so the guys would shove 189 00:14:42,080 --> 00:14:45,560 Speaker 1: them further in with the two by four, or on 190 00:14:45,600 --> 00:14:48,600 Speaker 1: the other side, they'd stick a hook into the bodies 191 00:14:48,720 --> 00:14:52,280 Speaker 1: and pull them into place. Sometimes the hook went under 192 00:14:52,280 --> 00:14:57,200 Speaker 1: the shoulder, sometimes threw the neck out a cheek. Retorts 193 00:14:57,200 --> 00:15:00,480 Speaker 1: were three and a half feet tall, four feet wide, 194 00:15:00,680 --> 00:15:03,880 Speaker 1: and eight feet long. One source compares it to the 195 00:15:03,920 --> 00:15:08,160 Speaker 1: interior of an American sedan. If you're wondering how many 196 00:15:08,200 --> 00:15:12,640 Speaker 1: bodies was enough to fill the retort, their record was fifteen. 197 00:15:13,960 --> 00:15:18,480 Speaker 1: Of course, there were mistakes, like the time they accidentally 198 00:15:18,520 --> 00:15:21,960 Speaker 1: cremated a body that was supposed to be embalmed, but 199 00:15:22,040 --> 00:15:25,320 Speaker 1: it was a closed casket, so they just subbed in 200 00:15:25,360 --> 00:15:29,240 Speaker 1: a random body, and no one knew the wiser. Before 201 00:15:29,360 --> 00:15:34,400 Speaker 1: David's idea in nineteen eighty one, the Lamb Funeral Home 202 00:15:34,480 --> 00:15:39,040 Speaker 1: had cremated one hundred and ninety four bodies. By nineteen 203 00:15:39,120 --> 00:15:44,760 Speaker 1: eighty six, the cremation business was processing eight thousand bodies 204 00:15:44,800 --> 00:15:59,920 Speaker 1: a year, many more than any other such business in California. 205 00:16:00,520 --> 00:16:04,760 Speaker 1: If that's not grotesque enough, David was also mining the 206 00:16:04,800 --> 00:16:09,840 Speaker 1: bodies for sellable products before they were cremated. It started 207 00:16:10,320 --> 00:16:14,920 Speaker 1: with the gold fillings. The Scots Home did require signing 208 00:16:14,920 --> 00:16:19,520 Speaker 1: a permission form, but they kept their phrasing intentionally vague, 209 00:16:20,040 --> 00:16:25,720 Speaker 1: using varied phrases like tissue removal. Every crematorium had to 210 00:16:25,760 --> 00:16:30,240 Speaker 1: remove pacemakers and other artificial devices so they didn't explode 211 00:16:30,320 --> 00:16:35,040 Speaker 1: in the retorts, but the forms didn't include selling those 212 00:16:35,080 --> 00:16:39,840 Speaker 1: removed items. The ethical thing to do was dispose of 213 00:16:39,920 --> 00:16:44,080 Speaker 1: anything that didn't disintegrate in the burn, but to David, 214 00:16:44,680 --> 00:16:49,040 Speaker 1: it was a business opportunity. Before any bodies went to 215 00:16:49,080 --> 00:16:52,760 Speaker 1: be incinerated, he checked their mouths for gold fillings, and 216 00:16:52,840 --> 00:16:55,440 Speaker 1: if he found them, he would yank them out, put 217 00:16:55,440 --> 00:16:58,320 Speaker 1: them in a styrofoam cup or whatever receptacle was around, 218 00:16:59,040 --> 00:17:03,640 Speaker 1: and sold them to a friend at the Burbank Gold Exchange. Later, 219 00:17:04,200 --> 00:17:07,480 Speaker 1: David would try to claim that gold fillings aren't valuable 220 00:17:07,960 --> 00:17:12,720 Speaker 1: because they contained so many other medals, but that's exactly wrong. 221 00:17:13,240 --> 00:17:17,199 Speaker 1: Their higher quality. Most gold jewelry in the US is 222 00:17:17,280 --> 00:17:22,960 Speaker 1: fourteen caret gold. Dentists usually use eighteen caret gold. One 223 00:17:23,000 --> 00:17:26,200 Speaker 1: filling was probably worth thirty five dollars at the time. 224 00:17:27,240 --> 00:17:30,280 Speaker 1: With the kind of volume David was handling, it could 225 00:17:30,320 --> 00:17:34,560 Speaker 1: add up pretty quickly. In nineteen eighty five and eighty six, 226 00:17:35,200 --> 00:17:38,479 Speaker 1: David bragged that he was making five or six thousand 227 00:17:38,560 --> 00:17:43,560 Speaker 1: dollars per month with gold fillings. Investigators were never able 228 00:17:43,600 --> 00:17:47,280 Speaker 1: to determine the exact volume, but it did probably amount 229 00:17:47,280 --> 00:17:51,399 Speaker 1: to tens of thousands of dollars, and from there it 230 00:17:51,480 --> 00:17:59,720 Speaker 1: gets worse. After David started making money off the gold 231 00:17:59,720 --> 00:18:03,720 Speaker 1: fill he looked at the rest at the body David 232 00:18:03,800 --> 00:18:07,640 Speaker 1: sweet talked two tissue bank specialists into coming to work 233 00:18:07,680 --> 00:18:11,120 Speaker 1: for the crematorium. One of them was a Japanese exchange 234 00:18:11,160 --> 00:18:14,960 Speaker 1: student who went by George. He said the tissues were 235 00:18:14,960 --> 00:18:18,240 Speaker 1: not fresh enough for a transplant, but they could be 236 00:18:18,359 --> 00:18:25,080 Speaker 1: used by medical students, so David started harvesting and donating organs. 237 00:18:26,320 --> 00:18:30,200 Speaker 1: Lisa Carlin was David's other tissue bank higher and her 238 00:18:30,240 --> 00:18:34,800 Speaker 1: time there was very short lived. Lisa pushed back against 239 00:18:34,880 --> 00:18:39,160 Speaker 1: David's ideas pretty often. She asked questions. She didn't think 240 00:18:39,200 --> 00:18:42,000 Speaker 1: the wording in the permission forms should be so vague, 241 00:18:42,840 --> 00:18:48,200 Speaker 1: and unlike David's parents, she didn't cave. Their disagreements often 242 00:18:48,359 --> 00:18:52,080 Speaker 1: escalated into arguments, which ended in them screaming at each other, 243 00:18:52,840 --> 00:18:55,480 Speaker 1: and they'd have these fights in front of all the 244 00:18:55,520 --> 00:19:01,520 Speaker 1: other workers. They were not discreet at all. Lisa couldn't 245 00:19:01,560 --> 00:19:05,520 Speaker 1: imagine that families thought any of David's operations were all right, 246 00:19:06,000 --> 00:19:09,520 Speaker 1: and she told him so. After one of their fights, 247 00:19:09,760 --> 00:19:12,960 Speaker 1: David told another employee that girl has gone too far. 248 00:19:13,520 --> 00:19:15,320 Speaker 1: One of these days she's going to wind up dead. 249 00:19:16,640 --> 00:19:20,720 Speaker 1: Their arguments didn't end when she quit. She still had 250 00:19:20,720 --> 00:19:24,080 Speaker 1: to call and fight with him about money. That's when 251 00:19:24,119 --> 00:19:28,520 Speaker 1: George overheard him say over the phone, quote for five 252 00:19:28,600 --> 00:19:31,720 Speaker 1: hundred dollars, I can have you shot. For a thousand, 253 00:19:31,800 --> 00:19:34,040 Speaker 1: I can have you killed, and then I'll burn up 254 00:19:34,080 --> 00:19:36,199 Speaker 1: the parts so no one will know what happened to you. 255 00:19:37,440 --> 00:19:41,119 Speaker 1: George also heard David say multiple times how much he 256 00:19:41,200 --> 00:19:45,600 Speaker 1: hated his grandparents, his own grandparents, the ones who started 257 00:19:45,600 --> 00:19:48,760 Speaker 1: the business that he was now running wild with, and 258 00:19:48,800 --> 00:19:53,320 Speaker 1: he asked George for an untraceable poison to quote use 259 00:19:53,520 --> 00:19:58,879 Speaker 1: on his grandparents. George circumnavigated the topic, telling his explosive 260 00:19:58,920 --> 00:20:12,440 Speaker 1: employer to to an assistant LA coroner, you might be thinking, wait, 261 00:20:12,520 --> 00:20:17,280 Speaker 1: it's illegal to sell organs. It's always been illegal, and 262 00:20:17,320 --> 00:20:21,600 Speaker 1: you'd be right. The receiving universities were not buying the 263 00:20:21,680 --> 00:20:26,480 Speaker 1: organs from tissue banks. They paid a transportation fee for 264 00:20:26,600 --> 00:20:34,000 Speaker 1: each eye cornea lung, heart, kidney, even other parts like 265 00:20:34,040 --> 00:20:37,000 Speaker 1: the three tiny bones of the ear or a knee joint. 266 00:20:38,080 --> 00:20:42,680 Speaker 1: A serious harvester could accumulate twenty five thousand dollars per 267 00:20:42,800 --> 00:20:49,479 Speaker 1: body somehow, and this part remains mysterious to me. David 268 00:20:49,640 --> 00:20:55,440 Speaker 1: set up his own tissue bank to start sourcing the universities. Meanwhile, 269 00:20:55,520 --> 00:20:58,080 Speaker 1: other funeral homes in the area were suspicious of the 270 00:20:58,160 --> 00:21:02,080 Speaker 1: volume David was cremating. They knew the laws, and they 271 00:21:02,119 --> 00:21:07,159 Speaker 1: knew that David's crematorium only had two retorts. The only 272 00:21:07,280 --> 00:21:11,080 Speaker 1: way they could be burning at that rate was by 273 00:21:11,080 --> 00:21:15,800 Speaker 1: burning multiple bodies. At the same time, two other funeral 274 00:21:15,800 --> 00:21:21,320 Speaker 1: home directors said as much. One, Ron Hast, published an 275 00:21:21,400 --> 00:21:26,119 Speaker 1: open threat of exposure in an industry newsletter. He also 276 00:21:26,440 --> 00:21:30,080 Speaker 1: had telephone Lareenne and told her straight up that he 277 00:21:30,119 --> 00:21:34,000 Speaker 1: was going to expose them to you or me. That 278 00:21:34,080 --> 00:21:36,960 Speaker 1: sounds like a pretty stand up move telling someone to 279 00:21:37,000 --> 00:21:41,840 Speaker 1: their face, but David thought the phone call was worse 280 00:21:41,880 --> 00:21:47,719 Speaker 1: than the threat itself because it upset his mama. So 281 00:21:47,840 --> 00:21:53,200 Speaker 1: David paid two of his employees, giant former football players, 282 00:21:53,760 --> 00:21:56,840 Speaker 1: eight hundred dollars to go beat up Ron Hast and 283 00:21:56,920 --> 00:22:00,520 Speaker 1: his buddy to get Ron to keep his mouth shut. 284 00:22:00,920 --> 00:22:05,480 Speaker 1: The other whistleblower was Tim Waters. Tim didn't even own 285 00:22:05,480 --> 00:22:09,879 Speaker 1: a funeral home. He owned a limbousine rental place, and 286 00:22:09,960 --> 00:22:14,760 Speaker 1: he had a middleman service that connected funeral homes to crematoriums. 287 00:22:15,359 --> 00:22:18,480 Speaker 1: That meant he couldn't come close to David's fifty five 288 00:22:18,520 --> 00:22:22,520 Speaker 1: dollars per body fee. His only way to push back 289 00:22:22,600 --> 00:22:27,000 Speaker 1: against the prices was to convince his prospects that David 290 00:22:27,119 --> 00:22:31,280 Speaker 1: was cremating illegally. He might not have had physical proofs, 291 00:22:31,880 --> 00:22:35,560 Speaker 1: but he was shrewd enough to deduce that multiple cremations 292 00:22:35,760 --> 00:22:42,120 Speaker 1: were the only way David's costs were that low. David's 293 00:22:42,119 --> 00:22:45,959 Speaker 1: football employees were paid to beat up Tim too, and 294 00:22:46,000 --> 00:22:48,639 Speaker 1: they later went on the record saying that David also 295 00:22:48,760 --> 00:22:52,679 Speaker 1: offered to pay them to kill Tim. Tim died on 296 00:22:52,760 --> 00:22:57,600 Speaker 1: Easter Weekend nineteen eighty five. He was very obese, according 297 00:22:57,600 --> 00:23:02,119 Speaker 1: to the coroner's reports. Although the first autopsy showed his 298 00:23:02,240 --> 00:23:07,880 Speaker 1: cause of death as undetermined, that autopsy showed conclusive evidence 299 00:23:08,000 --> 00:23:11,760 Speaker 1: that it was heart failure. It wasn't until David was 300 00:23:11,800 --> 00:23:15,120 Speaker 1: on the line for his first crimes, the crematorium crimes, 301 00:23:15,520 --> 00:23:25,520 Speaker 1: that they would look further into the death of Tim Waters. 302 00:23:29,040 --> 00:23:31,600 Speaker 1: It was a summer of nineteen eighty six when the 303 00:23:31,600 --> 00:23:37,119 Speaker 1: town of Hesperia smelled weird, bad, awful smells coming from 304 00:23:37,200 --> 00:23:40,840 Speaker 1: the ceramics factory on the hill. They were talking about 305 00:23:40,960 --> 00:23:46,200 Speaker 1: Oscar Ceramics, a manufacturer of heat resistant tiles for space 306 00:23:46,240 --> 00:23:52,800 Speaker 1: shuttles run by David Scots. Many people reported the terrible smell. 307 00:23:54,080 --> 00:23:58,120 Speaker 1: One citizen who had fought in the Second World War said, quote, 308 00:23:58,720 --> 00:24:01,919 Speaker 1: I was at the oven at Auschwitz, and I know 309 00:24:02,040 --> 00:24:05,879 Speaker 1: that smell. But the police couldn't raid the factory without 310 00:24:05,920 --> 00:24:09,880 Speaker 1: a warrant. Still, the police chief knew something was up, 311 00:24:10,400 --> 00:24:13,359 Speaker 1: so he called the fire Marshal, who could enter any 312 00:24:13,359 --> 00:24:17,560 Speaker 1: building at any time if there was a fire. There 313 00:24:17,880 --> 00:24:22,520 Speaker 1: was most definitely a fire, and it was most definitely 314 00:24:22,720 --> 00:24:27,280 Speaker 1: a code violation. The original retorts had been made for 315 00:24:27,359 --> 00:24:32,200 Speaker 1: the purpose of incinerating bodies. These ovens had been made 316 00:24:32,200 --> 00:24:36,800 Speaker 1: for firing ceramics, and there was a big difference. A 317 00:24:36,800 --> 00:24:42,320 Speaker 1: crematorium necessitated a large smoke stacked chimney to control emissions. 318 00:24:43,440 --> 00:24:48,640 Speaker 1: The ceramics place only had an exhaust, and one fateful 319 00:24:48,720 --> 00:24:54,120 Speaker 1: day a citizen called in flames leaping from that exhaust. 320 00:24:54,359 --> 00:24:56,760 Speaker 1: So the fire Marshal pulled up with the police chief, 321 00:24:57,440 --> 00:25:01,040 Speaker 1: and despite the lone employee's efforts to prevent them, they 322 00:25:01,080 --> 00:25:05,480 Speaker 1: went inside. On the floor there was a big pool 323 00:25:05,680 --> 00:25:12,320 Speaker 1: of quote, dark smelly liquid the analysis later determined was 324 00:25:12,359 --> 00:25:16,680 Speaker 1: a mixture of diesel fuel and amino acids, which a 325 00:25:16,720 --> 00:25:21,760 Speaker 1: body emits when it is incinerated, and beyond that, flames 326 00:25:21,800 --> 00:25:24,480 Speaker 1: were flying out from behind the metal doors of the kilns. 327 00:25:25,600 --> 00:25:30,320 Speaker 1: The officials ordered the fires to be extinguished aside from 328 00:25:30,320 --> 00:25:33,840 Speaker 1: the chimney in the doors, the flames were dangerously close 329 00:25:33,920 --> 00:25:37,159 Speaker 1: to the puddle of fuel on the floor. While they 330 00:25:37,240 --> 00:25:40,960 Speaker 1: waited for the oven doors to cool, they found barrels 331 00:25:41,000 --> 00:25:45,560 Speaker 1: of ashes and bones in an ice chest. They saw 332 00:25:45,600 --> 00:25:49,879 Speaker 1: the remains of human prostheses, and when they were able 333 00:25:49,920 --> 00:25:52,919 Speaker 1: to open the doors of the kilns, out fell the 334 00:25:53,000 --> 00:25:57,680 Speaker 1: remains of a human foot. David Sconce and his parents 335 00:25:58,240 --> 00:26:02,320 Speaker 1: were arrested in nineteen eighty Sive, I'll tell you all 336 00:26:02,359 --> 00:26:06,600 Speaker 1: about the trial and the sixty eight criminal counts they 337 00:26:06,600 --> 00:26:26,120 Speaker 1: were charged with after the break. The most important thing 338 00:26:26,200 --> 00:26:30,000 Speaker 1: to establish in this criminal case was the fraud of 339 00:26:30,080 --> 00:26:35,560 Speaker 1: the forms themselves. The preliminary hearing would decide whether the 340 00:26:35,600 --> 00:26:41,639 Speaker 1: case merited a courtroom trial. Judge Elvirah Mitchell ruled that 341 00:26:41,720 --> 00:26:46,520 Speaker 1: it should, and she set David's bail incredibly high because 342 00:26:46,520 --> 00:26:52,880 Speaker 1: she agreed with the prosecution that David was a flight risk. Naturally, 343 00:26:52,920 --> 00:26:57,480 Speaker 1: the whole family denied culpability, but Laurie Anne's denial is 344 00:26:57,800 --> 00:27:02,879 Speaker 1: kind of astounding. The case hinged on the paperwork so much, 345 00:27:04,080 --> 00:27:08,439 Speaker 1: and Lori Anne was the one issuing forms and taking signatures. 346 00:27:09,760 --> 00:27:14,919 Speaker 1: She said that every single person underwent a consultation in 347 00:27:15,000 --> 00:27:18,000 Speaker 1: which they agreed to all the terms that were vaguely 348 00:27:18,040 --> 00:27:23,159 Speaker 1: detailed in the heavily revised forms. Several testimonies of the 349 00:27:23,200 --> 00:27:29,560 Speaker 1: bereaved were revealed otherwise and revealed that their signatures were forged. 350 00:27:30,760 --> 00:27:35,000 Speaker 1: Some of their names were even misspelled. Lorianne denied it all, 351 00:27:35,720 --> 00:27:39,640 Speaker 1: including their revisions to the forms themselves that better disguise 352 00:27:39,760 --> 00:27:44,680 Speaker 1: the very vague terms used for harvesting organs. She even 353 00:27:44,760 --> 00:27:49,800 Speaker 1: said the tissue bank existed because of her sister's untimely 354 00:27:49,880 --> 00:27:55,920 Speaker 1: death in the airplane crash. That is some bad juju. 355 00:28:05,520 --> 00:28:09,840 Speaker 1: The next judge victor person had to rule on the 356 00:28:09,880 --> 00:28:13,320 Speaker 1: probability that they had committed the crimes they'd been charged for. 357 00:28:14,560 --> 00:28:18,800 Speaker 1: He had no doubts. From there, the case transferred to 358 00:28:18,880 --> 00:28:25,560 Speaker 1: Superior Court. The third judge, Terry Smirling, was extremely sympathetic 359 00:28:25,640 --> 00:28:30,480 Speaker 1: to defendants, and he was notorious for it. He threw 360 00:28:30,520 --> 00:28:35,080 Speaker 1: out ten of the charges against the ssconces. He said, 361 00:28:35,560 --> 00:28:38,600 Speaker 1: the motives of the defendants are despicable, but that's not 362 00:28:38,720 --> 00:28:42,520 Speaker 1: the issue. The issue is whether a crime has been committed. 363 00:28:43,520 --> 00:28:47,480 Speaker 1: He determined that by signing the contract, relatives were bound 364 00:28:47,480 --> 00:28:50,800 Speaker 1: to its terms, so he threw out all the most 365 00:28:50,920 --> 00:28:56,120 Speaker 1: grotesque charges. It was in direct contrast to what judge 366 00:28:56,160 --> 00:29:01,360 Speaker 1: person had ruled that there was no contract. In September 367 00:29:01,480 --> 00:29:05,640 Speaker 1: nineteen eighty nine, David Scots pled guilty to twenty one 368 00:29:05,800 --> 00:29:10,240 Speaker 1: charges of mishandling remains and was sentenced to five years 369 00:29:10,240 --> 00:29:16,080 Speaker 1: in prison. Terry sentenced David to run sixteen felony charges concurrently, 370 00:29:16,880 --> 00:29:21,480 Speaker 1: and he served only five years because he'd already been 371 00:29:21,480 --> 00:29:25,880 Speaker 1: imprisoned while awaiting trial. That finish line was just over 372 00:29:25,920 --> 00:29:30,680 Speaker 1: a year away. There was, meanwhile, a huge deal investigating 373 00:29:30,720 --> 00:29:34,320 Speaker 1: the death of Tim Waters. He was the one who 374 00:29:34,360 --> 00:29:39,160 Speaker 1: had owned the company that transported the bodies, one of 375 00:29:39,240 --> 00:29:42,600 Speaker 1: the two whom David had paid his employees to beat. 376 00:29:43,720 --> 00:29:48,040 Speaker 1: According to protocol, the coroners had saved samples of Tim's 377 00:29:48,080 --> 00:29:52,240 Speaker 1: tissues for five years. At this point they were only 378 00:29:52,320 --> 00:29:56,920 Speaker 1: three years in. One coroner said there was no toxicology 379 00:29:56,960 --> 00:30:01,840 Speaker 1: report in the original autopsy, so they ran one. Because 380 00:30:01,920 --> 00:30:06,920 Speaker 1: bureaucracy is notoriously slow, the prosecuting lawyer went over the 381 00:30:06,920 --> 00:30:11,239 Speaker 1: coroner's head straight to the source at the lab. The 382 00:30:11,280 --> 00:30:16,160 Speaker 1: only thing they found in Tim's system was dijoxon. He 383 00:30:16,200 --> 00:30:21,360 Speaker 1: called to apologize afterward, but the coroner wasn't mad. He 384 00:30:21,480 --> 00:30:26,920 Speaker 1: was intrigued. Yes, dijoxon was typically found in medication that 385 00:30:27,360 --> 00:30:31,120 Speaker 1: someone with Tim's health might have taken, but Tim didn't 386 00:30:31,160 --> 00:30:35,320 Speaker 1: take any medication. The other thing that could have put 387 00:30:35,400 --> 00:30:40,920 Speaker 1: dijoxon in Tim's bloodstream was oleander. The coroner was willing 388 00:30:40,960 --> 00:30:45,200 Speaker 1: to testify, and he did. He did qualify that oleander 389 00:30:45,320 --> 00:30:48,160 Speaker 1: typically kills in the first few hours if it's going 390 00:30:48,240 --> 00:30:52,880 Speaker 1: to kill, but because of Tim's obesity, he thought the 391 00:30:52,960 --> 00:30:57,320 Speaker 1: fat stores might have delayed the outcome. A conviction started 392 00:30:57,360 --> 00:31:01,800 Speaker 1: to look possible, so the defense brought in another expert 393 00:31:02,360 --> 00:31:08,240 Speaker 1: who said the conclusion was inconclusive. The prosecution was devastated. 394 00:31:08,720 --> 00:31:11,320 Speaker 1: They had to drop the charge of Tim's murder or 395 00:31:11,440 --> 00:31:16,280 Speaker 1: risk David's exoneration on all accounts. The case for Tim's 396 00:31:16,360 --> 00:31:20,800 Speaker 1: murder was in court for months, even after Lisa's testimony 397 00:31:20,840 --> 00:31:24,720 Speaker 1: that she was fired and threatened for asking questions, Even 398 00:31:24,800 --> 00:31:29,120 Speaker 1: after multiple victims those related to the bodies illegally cremated, 399 00:31:29,640 --> 00:31:33,400 Speaker 1: came forward testifying they had no idea that the form 400 00:31:33,480 --> 00:31:38,280 Speaker 1: allowed for organ harvesting, even after the guys who beat 401 00:31:38,400 --> 00:31:41,440 Speaker 1: up Ron and Tim testified that they were paid to 402 00:31:41,480 --> 00:31:46,200 Speaker 1: do it. After multiple jailhouse informants said David had admitted 403 00:31:46,240 --> 00:31:51,440 Speaker 1: to everything. Prosecution appealed right away, but it didn't move 404 00:31:51,480 --> 00:31:57,000 Speaker 1: the needle for these crimes. David sconce served only two 405 00:31:57,040 --> 00:32:06,280 Speaker 1: and a half years and would be on probation for life. 406 00:32:08,520 --> 00:32:11,480 Speaker 1: If that's not hard enough to believe when don't you 407 00:32:11,520 --> 00:32:15,120 Speaker 1: hear what his mother said? When Lori Anne and Jerry 408 00:32:15,160 --> 00:32:18,600 Speaker 1: went to court for the scandal, Lori Anne said that 409 00:32:18,640 --> 00:32:23,520 Speaker 1: the mass cremations, the mixing of ashes, and extraction of 410 00:32:23,640 --> 00:32:29,120 Speaker 1: dental gold did happen at their family business, but David 411 00:32:29,400 --> 00:32:34,720 Speaker 1: did it all. He acted alone. They had no idea 412 00:32:35,160 --> 00:32:38,400 Speaker 1: any of it was happening, and he did it without 413 00:32:38,400 --> 00:32:42,760 Speaker 1: their permission. She threw her son under the bus and 414 00:32:42,800 --> 00:32:47,040 Speaker 1: the jury bought it. They acquitted both parents of all crimes, 415 00:32:47,480 --> 00:32:51,280 Speaker 1: as well as the conspiracy to steal and sell body parts. 416 00:32:59,280 --> 00:33:01,600 Speaker 1: The good to come up this case was changes to 417 00:33:01,680 --> 00:33:06,880 Speaker 1: laws about cremation. Cemetery Board investigators usually spent more time 418 00:33:06,920 --> 00:33:11,760 Speaker 1: looking at audits the financials of crematories. As a result 419 00:33:11,800 --> 00:33:15,400 Speaker 1: of this case, the biggest change was that a legislature 420 00:33:15,480 --> 00:33:21,040 Speaker 1: passed a bill authorizing on demand inspection of crematories. Plus 421 00:33:21,080 --> 00:33:25,760 Speaker 1: it is now very explicitly stated legally that all cremations 422 00:33:26,360 --> 00:33:31,520 Speaker 1: must be performed individually unless a multiple cremation is authorized 423 00:33:31,560 --> 00:33:35,360 Speaker 1: in writing, and even if the family agrees to it, 424 00:33:35,840 --> 00:33:39,600 Speaker 1: only a few crematories are able to perform multiple cremations. 425 00:33:41,600 --> 00:33:47,240 Speaker 1: But wait, there's more. In twenty thirteen, that's twenty four 426 00:33:47,360 --> 00:33:52,200 Speaker 1: years after the original ruling, Los Angeles County Superior Court 427 00:33:52,280 --> 00:33:57,800 Speaker 1: Judge Dorothy Shubin ruled that David violated his probation after 428 00:33:57,840 --> 00:34:03,680 Speaker 1: he was convicted of having stolen a firearm. Apparently, David 429 00:34:03,720 --> 00:34:07,000 Speaker 1: swiped a gun from his neighbor in Montana, and when 430 00:34:07,000 --> 00:34:09,920 Speaker 1: he tried to pawn it, the shop owner discovered it 431 00:34:10,000 --> 00:34:13,960 Speaker 1: was stolen. Back in two thousand and two, when David 432 00:34:14,000 --> 00:34:18,719 Speaker 1: had gone to court for another unspecified probation violation, the 433 00:34:18,800 --> 00:34:22,200 Speaker 1: judge of that case said, if you come back before 434 00:34:22,280 --> 00:34:25,319 Speaker 1: me on a violation of probation, I will sentence you 435 00:34:25,360 --> 00:34:29,560 Speaker 1: to life in prison. Although that judge has since retired, 436 00:34:30,000 --> 00:34:35,160 Speaker 1: Judge Dorothy Shubin imposed that promise. Although it seems like 437 00:34:35,239 --> 00:34:38,279 Speaker 1: David Scance is the star of this episode. Let's not 438 00:34:38,360 --> 00:34:40,800 Speaker 1: forget the women on both sides of the law, without 439 00:34:40,800 --> 00:34:45,320 Speaker 1: whom this story might have ended very differently. Judge Dorothy 440 00:34:45,360 --> 00:34:48,520 Speaker 1: Shubin made good on that weird promise of life imprisonment 441 00:34:48,880 --> 00:34:53,800 Speaker 1: if David ever violated his parole. Lisa Carlin once worked 442 00:34:53,800 --> 00:34:57,040 Speaker 1: for David in his crematorium and wouldn't let her moral 443 00:34:57,040 --> 00:35:02,080 Speaker 1: compass be swung. Her testimony was instrumental in the series 444 00:35:02,120 --> 00:35:07,000 Speaker 1: of trials during the nineteen eighties. And then, of course 445 00:35:07,640 --> 00:35:11,759 Speaker 1: there's David's mother, Laurie Anne, and while it wouldn't be 446 00:35:11,800 --> 00:35:15,040 Speaker 1: fair to blame this whole saga of depravity on her 447 00:35:15,120 --> 00:35:20,040 Speaker 1: as an enabler, it is fair to acknowledge that without 448 00:35:20,120 --> 00:35:24,600 Speaker 1: her encouragement, these crimes may not have escalated to the 449 00:35:24,600 --> 00:35:45,960 Speaker 1: scale that they did. Join me next week on The 450 00:35:45,960 --> 00:35:49,480 Speaker 1: Greatest True Crime Stories Ever Told for our episode on 451 00:35:49,920 --> 00:35:55,320 Speaker 1: the Gold Club, once Atlanta's most prominent and criminal strip club. 452 00:35:56,719 --> 00:36:00,000 Speaker 1: A special thanks to Ken Inglade for his book Family Business, 453 00:36:00,640 --> 00:36:04,240 Speaker 1: which helped me write this episode, and the many sources 454 00:36:04,280 --> 00:36:16,480 Speaker 1: I used can be explored through our show's notes. The 455 00:36:16,520 --> 00:36:19,400 Speaker 1: Greatest True Crime Stories Ever Told is a production of 456 00:36:19,480 --> 00:36:24,000 Speaker 1: Diversion Audio. I'm Mary Kay mcbreer and I hosted this episode. 457 00:36:24,600 --> 00:36:28,480 Speaker 1: I also wrote this episode. Our show is produced by 458 00:36:28,480 --> 00:36:33,160 Speaker 1: Emma Demuth and edited by Antonio Enriquez. Theme music by 459 00:36:33,200 --> 00:36:36,520 Speaker 1: Tyler Cash. Executive producer Scott Waxman.