Mortician Faces New Charge of Soliciting Slayings

Pasadena funeral home and crematorium operator David Sconce, who with his parents already faces numerous charges including removal of body parts, mutilating corpses, commingling of human remains and stealing gold from the teeth of corpses, has also been accused of soliciting the murder of his grandparents.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Walt Lewis said Thursday that the complaint alleges that Sconce, 31, had several conversations with a former employee of a tissue bank operated by Sconce about poisoning the bottled water of Lawrence and Lucille Lamb, former owners of the Lamb Funeral Home of Pasadena. The poisoning never took place.

Asked about the possible motive, Lewis said only that there had been “some testimony” that Sconce’s mother, Laurieanne Lamb Sconce, would inherit her father’s assets.

David Sconce’s attorney, Roger Diamond, called the new charge “totally unfounded.”