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The Shocking True Crimes Behind HBO’s The Mortician You Must Know

BBG News

On June 1st, HBO will debut a riveting documentary series titled “The Mortician.” This captivating series delves into the shocking real-life events surrounding a former cremator who served time in prison due to his mishandling of human remains.

In the 1980s, David Sconce operated a funeral home where he dishonestly combined human remains and stole valuable belongings from families mourning their loved ones. After admitting to these crimes in 1989, Sconce spent time in prison but still shares his story in a three-part documentary series.

Each installment, airing weekly, delves into the questionable methods David Sconce used to expand his family’s funeral home, Lamb Funeral Home in Pasadena, California. The series showcases accounts from Sconce’s former employees about the alarming actions they witnessed under his leadership and testimonies from clients who experienced distress when they received incorrect remains from Scone’s business. Additionally, current morticians offer insights on proper methods for handling human remains.

Director Joshua Rofé suggests that viewers might find similarities between the cremation scandal and other corporate scandals they encounter in news headlines, where companies prioritize maximum profit at the expense of minimal effort. However, in the funeral industry, he underscores, such practices are particularly disturbing or gruesome.

Here’s a look at the most surprising moments in The Mortician. 

How David Sconce got caught

As a dedicated movie buff, I’ve got my investigative hat on here. In the Pasadena region, something fishy was going on at a local funeral home when it came to the cremation business. The red flag? A certain Mr. Sconce was churning out more cremations than his peers—and all at surprisingly lower prices.

But as former employees of Sconce’s operation revealed in this intriguing series, there was a darker side to the story. It seems that ol’ Sconce and his crew would take advantage of the multi-tasking capabilities of the crematorium oven—a practice I wouldn’t recommend at my local pizzeria, let alone a funeral home.

In an attempt to maximize profits, they went so far as to break bones—collarbones, arms, or legs—to fit more bodies into that hot metal box than was ever intended. Quite the macabre assembly line, if you ask me.

As Sconce’s business expanded deeper into the California desert, it significantly increased its operations, cremating between 150 and 200 bodies at once. Coincidentally, a solider who had liberated Auschwitz resided near Sconce’s operation in the desert, and he dialed 911 after detecting the odor of burning flesh—a scent that was deeply etched into his memory following World War II. It was at this point that Sconce was apprehended.

In the year 1989, Sconce admitted to illegally handling deceased persons’ remains and extracting gold fillings from their teeth at Lamb Funeral Home. After serving several years behind bars, he was imprisoned once more in 2013 for breaking his lifetime probation by possessing a firearm. He was granted parole in the year 2023.

Funeral directors emphasize throughout the show that Sconce was a rogue figure in the industry. They argue that the Sconce scandal paved the way for stricter rules and regulations concerning cremations, including laws that mandate unscheduled inspections of crematories. Now, removing dental gold or silver is considered a criminal offense.

How David Sconce carried out the illegal cremation business 

Individuals who conducted cremations under Sconce’s supervision recounted the warning signs they observed during their employment with him.

Previous workers recounted instances of disrobing corpses with the intention of selling the clothing and severing body parts to retrieve valuable jewelry. They engaged in informal contests among themselves to determine who could store the most bodies inside an oven. Andre Augustine, a former employee at Sconce, alleges that employees were often unsure which remains belonged in which container. The clients would sometimes receive the remains of not only their deceased relative but also those of other individuals.

Barbara Hunt, Sconce’s former spouse, asserts that her ex-husband kept his cremation business a secret from her. She claims to have first learned about it through media reports. However, she remembers an instance when she noticed Sconce in their garage, sitting on the floor and using a hammer to break teeth, which he then collected in a Styrofoam cup labeled “Au,” the symbol for gold.

“He sold the gold,” Hunt says. “I just sat there thinking, what world am I in?”

Why David Sconce has no regrets

In the show, Sconce candidly discusses the process of simultaneous cremations without any apparent embarrassment. Previously, he was known for driving a Corvette with the vanity plate, “I Am For You.

He contends that since crematories can’t completely remove every trace of ash before placing another body into the oven, this supports his actions. “Mixing ashes is insignificant. I don’t attach any importance to anyone once they’ve passed away and perished. No one should do so when I’m gone and dead. It’s no longer a person.

He mentioned that many families opted for Sconce to disperse their deceased relatives’ ashes at sea without any family members present. Given this, it’s unclear to him why people would have any interest in knowing whether the ashes he scattered belonged to one person or several.

When queried about his feelings towards delivering the ashes of numerous individuals, he responded, “Everyone’s cremated ashes are essentially identical… People need to manage their emotions better in such situations. It’s no longer your loved one; it never has been. Show them love while they’re still here. End of story.

In simpler terms, Rofé believes that there’s more to Sconce’s intentions than just money. He shares this thought with TIME and remembers an incident during filming when they were alone in a motel room. At this moment, Sconce asked Rofé what he would do if someone offered him a large sum of money to make a documentary that could portray Sconce negatively. According to Rofe, “There was a strange look in his eyes, one I hadn’t seen before. It was downright chilling.

In the documentary, Rofé felt it was appropriate to provide Sconce with a voice. He emphasizes that stories about individuals who have committed crimes should not be shied away from. According to him, if we were to live in denial that everything in the world is perfect, we would be doing a great injustice to humanity. However, it’s crucial to examine people like this closely.

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2025-06-02 06:06

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