Tight Security at Hearing for Crematory Suspect

Wearing a bulletproof vest and surrounded by sheriff’s deputies, the operator of a crematory accused of charging for cremations and then dumping the bodies on his property sat impassively in a Lafayette courtroom as lawyers argued over bail.

Ray Brent Marsh, 28, who police said had received a number of death threats, is charged with 16 counts of theft by deception for allegedly taking payment for cremations that were never performed at Tri-State Crematory in Noble.

Investigators have found 289 sets of human remains stacked in sheds, scattered in the woods and buried on the grounds of the crematory, which Marsh has run since taking over from his father in 1996.