Deal Is Cited in Bodies Scandal

Crematory operator Brent Marsh, who for years dumped bodies on his north Georgia property and presented families with fake ashes, will plead guilty to criminal charges Friday, prosecutors told family members in a letter.

Newport Beach attorney Ron Cordova, a co-counsel for Marsh, said the agreement called for a 12-year prison sentence followed by an extended period of probation.

A spokesperson for District Atty. Herbert Franklin would not comment on the letter Tuesday. A judge must approve any agreement before it is valid.

Had he been convicted at trial, Marsh could have faced a prison sentence of 8,000 years on 787 criminal charges of theft and abuse of a corpse.

Responding to an anonymous tip, state officials in 2002 found a skull on the property of the Tri-State Crematory in Noble, Ga. -- the family business that Marsh took over in 1997. They launched a search that ultimately uncovered 334 bodies, some still in body bags and hospital gowns.

Scores of families since have dug up loved ones’ graves, only to find them empty. Family members of the deceased will have the opportunity to deliver victim impact statements at a sentencing hearing Jan. 31, the letter said.

“There is no way they could ever do to that man what he deserves,” said Charlotte Boatwright, 67, a Chattanooga nurse whose mother’s and husband’s bodies were sent to the crematory. “That’s between him and his maker. The pain he has inflicted on people is just unspeakable.”

Marsh, 31, is from a respected local family. He dropped out of college and returned to Walker County when his father became too ill to operate the crematory. After the gruesome discoveries, Marsh was jailed and put on a suicide watch; he was freed on $159,000 bail after six months.

The letter from prosecutors told families that “according to information given us by defense counsel, [Brent] intends to withdraw his notice of appeal ... and enter a plea of guilty.”

A civil suit against the crematory was settled in August for $80 million after a day of testimony. The possibility of further testimony, especially from Marsh, has tantalized family members.

“I was still looking for information,” said Tim Mason, 56, a LaFayette, Ga., accountant who had a social relationship with Marsh before the bodies were found. “We’ve not located one of my parents. With each trial, whether it be the criminal or civil trial, we learn one more little tidbit.”

Anthony Schuchman, 86, had ordered his son’s grave dug up so that a coroner could test the remains to verify that they were his. But no particle was large enough to test for DNA.

“He says they think it’s human,” said Schuchman, who keeps the ashes at his Pittsburgh, Pa., home -- in his son’s old bedroom.

Boatwright, whose husband’s body has never been found, said the case has left her traumatized and depressed. Although some families have tried to hold burials or other ceremonies to achieve a sense of closure, “it was all pretty empty,” she said.