PASADENA : Warrant Issued for Figure in Funeral Home Scandal

An arrest warrant has been issued for David Sconce, the former operator of Lamb Funeral Home in Pasadena, after he failed to appear in Pasadena Superior Court on Friday to answer charges of conspiracy to commit murder.

Sconce, free on his own recognizance, is due in court Monday in Arizona, where criminal charges are being pursued against him for allegedly duplicating and selling phony bus passes. Sconce lives in Bullhead City, Ariz., where he has worked as a bus driver.

The Pasadena criminal charges are from 1987 when Sconce, along with his parents, Laurieanne and Jerry Sconce, were accused of massive funeral home violations, including commingling of ashes and illegal extraction of dental gold from corpses. Sconce pleaded guilty to 21 related criminal counts and was sentenced to five years in prison. The conspiracy charge stems from his alleged solicitation of the murder of Ellie Estephan, who was planning to buy a rival crematory.