Episode 80: Madness at the Mortuary: David Sconce and the Lamb Funeral Home

Funeral directors take an oath to be faithful to those who entrust them with the services whether that be cremation or burial of their loved ones. Funeral directors are people that we as a society automatically trust – we trust that they have our and our deceased loved one’s interests, hopes and wishes at heart. And for the overwhelming majority of funeral directors, that sentiment is true. But as with anything – there can always be a bad apple.  Back in the 1980’s in Pasadena, California, the Lamb Funeral Home had been in operation for decades. Passed down through the Lamb family eventually put into the hands of Laurieanne Lamb-Sconce and her husband Jerry Sconce. They ran the business as well as Laurieanne’s father and grandfather before her. But eventually, Laurieanne and Jerry’s son David would get brought into the fold.  He had a very different view on death and grief than his predecessors. In this profession he saw a business, an opportunity to make a significant amount of cash and with very minimal oversight. It was discovered that David had been working along side those he hired and even his parents to an extent to cremate more than one, sometimes dozens of bodies at one time in the same oven. Not only would he comingle ash, he would also have his employees fill the ovens by whatever means necessary – even if that meant by the breaking of the limbs. But he would never cremate the deceased prior to removing their jewelry, removing their fillings, removing their clothes and even harvesting their organs – all of these for sale. But he wouldn’t get away with it for long before people began to catch on.

 

Sources:

Time – The Chilling True Story Behind HBO’s The Mortician – June 1, 2025 – Olivia B. Waxman - https://time.com/7290184/the-mortician-hbo-documentary-true-story/

The Los Angeles Times – A Mortuary Tangled in the Macabre – January 1, 1989

The Los Angeles Times – LAMB: Couple Shift Blame to Son for Funeral Home Misdeeds – - Phil Sneiderman - April 17, 1992

HBO / MAX – Series: The Mortician

Wikipedia – Pasadena, California - Pasadena, California - Wikipedia

City of Pasadena – Heritage: A Short History of Pasadena - Heritage: A Short History of Pasadena - City of Pasadena

Moviedelic – Where is David Sconce Now: Update on the Mortician – Kriti Mehrota – June 1, 2025 - Where is David Sconce Today? Update on the Mortician

Connecting Directors – The Sad, Sordid Saga of Criminal Cremator David Sconce – Patricia Hartley– April 9, 2019 - The Sad, Sordid Saga of Criminal Cremator David Sconce | Connecting Directors

The Los Angeles Times – Couple’s 2nd Trial Begins in Pasadena Mortuary Scandal : Court: The former owners of the Lamb Funeral home are accused of removing body parts for sale – Vicki Torres – February 9, 1995 - Couple's 2nd Trial Begins in Pasadena Mortuary Scandal : Court: The former owners of Lamb Funeral Home are accused of removing body parts for sale. - Los Angeles Times