Cremation Suit Ends With $15.4-Million Settlement : Mortuaries: Relatives of more than 5,000 deceased people will share award. Some say their grief isn’t over.

A suit against the former owners of a Pasadena crematory accused of harvesting dental gold from corpses, commingling body remains and selling body organs without relatives’ permission was settled Wednesday for $15.4 million.

Relatives of more than 5,000 deceased people will share in the agreement approved by Superior Court Judge Barnet M. Cooperman. The courtroom was crowded Wednesday with widows and children of the deceased who said the closure of the case did not end their grieving over what had happened.

“No one can truly understand what this case is about unless the person has suffered not only the loss of a loved one that every death brings but the horror of not knowing what happened to the remains of the loved one,” Cooperman said.

In 1987, authorities discovered dozens of partially cremated bodies in a corrugated steel building in the high desert city of Hesperia. The crematory was run by operators of the now-defunct Lamb Funeral Home--Jerry Sconce, his wife, Laurieanne Lamb Sconce, and their son, David Sconce.

Investigators found that the operators were cremating several bodies at one time, and randomly apportioning out ashes to relatives, all in an effort to dominate the cremation business through bargain prices. They were also accused of selling eyes, brains and other body parts to scientific supply companies, and with selling gold fillings. Their practices led to the filing of numerous criminal charges against the Sconces.

More than 100 mortuaries from Santa Barbara to San Diego became defendants in the case because they used the crematory’s services, according to lawyers in the case.

Relatives such as Lucy Chybinski of West Hollywood found out that the ashes she thought were the remains of her husband, George, who died in 1985, were not his when the court sent out notices to potential victims. The settlement money offered little solace, Chybinski said, her eyes welling with tears: “It is nothing. I don’t know where he is.”

Chybinski’s was one of 5,237 claims filed. About 20,000 decedents were cremated from 1980 to 1987, the period covered in the class-action lawsuit, according to plaintiffs’ attorney Elizabeth J. Cabraser. Other decedents’ relatives could seek compensation as well if they submit claims by May 1.

“It has been said that a society is judged by the dignity it accords its dead,” Cooperman said. “That dignity has been violated in this case.”

The judge noted the case resulted in still-pending criminal charges against the crematory operators, as well as a California Supreme Court decision that established the rights of families to make claims for the mishandling of decedents’ remains.

“The case has resulted in an expansion of the law,” Cooperman said. “It is much less likely that a tragedy of this type will recur.”

As part of the $15,440,000 settlement, at least 18 attorneys for the family members will share $4.6 million in fees, Cooperman said.

Cabraser said the settlement sent a very clear message to mortuaries and crematories in the state. “The sacred trust they owe to clients is also a legal obligation,” she said.

But one of the principal attorneys representing the mortuaries, Louis Marlin, said his clients “got caught up in a fraud. They were as much victims as everybody else.”

Jerry and Laurieanne Sconce are scheduled to face trial in March for commingling bodies and other charges, according to the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office. Their son, David, also faces trial for perjury and conspiracy, though the trial date has not been set.