Ga. Crematory Operator Leaves Jail (sheriff said You're going out the front door)

AP ^ | 8/27/2002 | ap

[TLBSHOW]

Ga. Crematory Operator Leaves Jail

LaFAYETTE, Ga. Aug. 27 — A crematory operator accused of dumping hundreds of human remains was released from jail Tuesday as about a dozen people, mostly family members of the dead, shouted and jeered at him.

Ray Brent Marsh walked straight to the car of his attorney, who took off for the home of Marsh's parents. He will be confined there while he awaits an indictment and trial.

Marsh, 29, had been in custody since Feb. 17 for allegedly accepting money for cremations but never performing them. He's charged with 398 felony counts, including theft by deception and abuse of a body.

The operator of Tri-State Crematory had received many death threats in the months since his incarceration. Even so, Sheriff Steve Wilson said they wouldn't protect him beyond the parking lot of the jail and courthouse.

The crowd gathered outside the jail only saw Marsh for a moment, but they said they wanted him to feel their anger.

"Every time he eats, drinks and sleeps, I want him to see our faces. I don't want anything to happen to him that would be too easy," said Melissa Crawford, whose uncle was supposed to have been cremated.

Marsh was held more than five months before bail was set at $159,000 on July 25, but his family needed an extra month to raise the $39,000 cash portion. He had a property bond of $120,000.

Complete and partial human remains of 339 bodies were found around the crematory property in February in storage buildings, in burial vaults, and in pits and the surrounding forest.

There had been threats Marsh would be shot or hanged when he was released from jail, said his lawyer, Ken Poston.

"My initial request was to go out the back door in the middle of the night. The sheriff said 'You're going out the front door,'" Poston said.

As a condition of his bail, Marsh will be confined to his parents' house and will wear an ankle monitor that electronically tracks his movements. Police will be sent if he leaves the area of the house without permission.

Deputies will make three unannounced visits each week and give him random alcohol and drug tests until his trial date, which has not been set.

Marsh took over the crematory near the Tennessee state line from his parents in 1996.

[lexington minuteman 1775]

Any idea how many years he can get total on these 398 felony charges?And would they consecutive or conconcurrent.Frankly I think what this mad did was despicable.People put thier trust and thier loved ones in his hands and he accpeted thier money but did not provide the service he was paid for.So I hope he spends a lot of years in jail.Great job for him would be at a georgia prison building coffins for deceased prisoners of paupers.

[SJackson]

Any idea how many years he can get total on these 398 felony charges?

He's famous now. Any idea how many weeks he last in general population?

[Burkeman1]

This is a sad story. The Marsh family is a prominent black family in that county and had been even before WWI. The patriarch of the Marsh family actually had a lumber mill that employed both black and white in pre WWI Georgia! That is a great accomplishment for a black man in the segragated South! The rest of the Marsh clan is very successful and many Marsh businesses still operate in that county. This must bring alot of shame on that noble family.

[another cricket]

Every family tree has its nut, saps and bad apples.

The honest side of the family should hold it's head high. I would hate to be this man's kid though.

a.cricket

[SJackson]

Thanks for the backgroud. Though my first thought was for the families of the deceased, Ray Brent has more victims to answer for.

[Burkeman1]

Funny- how a family can do years and decades of good works and be regarded as good people but then only one branch of the family goes wrong and the rest have to suffer the taint? But if the Marsh family could build a little empire in a segragated Georgia they can stand against this storm.

[thegreatbeast]

This is an awful story and this crematory operator is screwed, blued and tattooed. He will be doing a lot of time. But I just think all the garment rending over this thing is just so much useless hysterics. Just a personal quirk perhaps, but once life has left the body, it is nothing but a husk- nothing that should suffer any indignities but not the same as stealing someone's life savings or all their retirement funds.

[SJackson]

Just a personal quirk perhaps, but once life has left the body, it is nothing but a husk- nothing that should suffer any indignities but not the same as stealing someone's life savings or all their retirement funds.

You are clearly NOT a lawyer.

[Burkeman1]

Dumping dead bodies into swamps when being paid for a proper Christian burial is despicable and I hope he is punished. But 100 dead bodies being disposed of improperly does not equal to one live person left to die in a submerged car while a potential senator calls his lawyers.

[another cricket]

True. But I know I would be hopping mad if it was my kin. If it had been my grandpa's body and it made my grandma cry even one more tear I am afraid I would have to beat the tar out of him.

It brings back the grief afresh. What a rotten thing to do.

a.cricket

[SJackson]

Dumping dead bodies into swamps when being paid for a proper Christian burial is despicable and I hope he is punished. But 100 dead bodies being disposed of improperly does not equal to one live person left to die in a submerged car while a potential senator calls his lawyers.

No you're wrong. Potential President, Senator was the backup, to be used in case of manslaughter. It worked.

Thank's for the short background on the family. I'd love to occasionally see stories like that on FR, now wouldn't be the time.

There are victims all over in crimes like these.

[Reweld]

Noble family? Many of the bodies found there dated back well before the son took over the business. Many people turned in urns of ashes to be tested, that had been handed them by the parents, and those urns contained cement, dirt, and wood ashes. This "noble family" has been doing this for many, many years, and looking people right in the eye while they were doing it. The whole family are sociopaths.

[lexington minuteman 1775]

well...if they are relatives of those folks.I would not give him much time.But as pappy used to say.There are consequences for bad behaviour.So i think this guy is about to find that out.

[Burkeman1]

YOu are right. It went back to his father who ran the business. But this was just one family of the Marsh clan that is very established in that county. They are horrified by this. An entire family or clan should not be tainted by the actions of one family section.