Judge James Bodiford late Monday afternoon approved a 12-year prison sentence for Tri State Crematory operator Brent Marsh, saying it was "not perfect, but it is a fair compromise of this case."
Near the close of a day-long highly emotional sentencing hearing, Marsh stood and told victim family members he again apologizes. "I ask for forgiveness for my sins."
He also denied that other family members were involved in the case in which 334 uncremated bodies were found at the Noble, Ga., crematory. He said, "It stops with me."
Marsh did not give family members the "why" they sought. He said, "I can't give you the answers that you want, but I will stand up here like a man. And I will not cry when I go into that cell. I will not whimper."
Marsh, a former football star at LaFayette High School who went on to play for the UTC Mocs, said, "Today must start the healing."
Judge Bodiford said he expects that Marsh will serve most or all of the 12-year sentence.
He said a trial would have cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, and he said there would have been no "finality" since the verdict would be appealed.
Prosecutor Buzz Franklin said he believes the plea agreement is fair. He said it was an unprecedented case that provided no sentencing guidelines.
He said should Marsh ever attempt to profit from sale of his story that the state of Georgia would go after any proceeds up to $8 million. Marsh told the judge that he had made no book or movie deals and that no one had approached him with any proposals.
Attorney Ken Poston said Marsh had now apologized in three different forums, "but it never seems to be good enough."
Judge Bodiford, who is from Marietta, said that in victim-impact statements, many family members "wanted to know why this happened."
The judge said, "I think everyone here deserves some answers. But I can't make Mr. Marsh tell us what happened."
Judge Bodiford said Marsh would not get jail credit for time spent at his home on bond. He said he did not know the basis of reports that Marsh would only have to serve four years of the 12-year term.
The sentencing hearing began at 8:30 a.m. at the Walker County Courthouse at LaFayette.
There was tight security in the large courtroom, which was about one-third full. Officers escorted the judge as well as Marsh and his lawyers in and out of the courtroom. Those attending the trial had to go through metal detectors.
Family members who wanted to speak sat in the jury box.
Judge Bodiford said many family members said they have trouble sleeping, have nightmares, lose their tempers easily, suffer from anxiety attacks, have problems focusing, no longer trust anyone and have strained family relations.
He said he would likely not be able to help with those problems, but he said those who feel guilty about sending the bodies to funeral homes that used Tri State Crematory should not feel guilt.
He said, "You don't have to feel guilty. When you turned the body over to the funeral home you could not have possibly known that this would have happened."
Judge Bodiford said that should he reject the proposed 12-year sentence, then prosecutors and the defense would have the right to call off the entire plea bargaining deal.
Judge Bodiford said he was at a conference in New Orleans when he got a call telling him the plea bargain deal that avoided a trial that was expected to last for weeks and be extremely costly.
Randall Jensen, whose father, Martin Jensen, was taken to the crematory, said he believes the sentence is fair. But he said he will go to probation hearings to oppose him getting out before the 12 years is up.
He said his father, a World War II veteran, had been "dumped in a shallow grave."
Mr. Jensen said, "It costs $30-$50 to cremate somebody. I just want to know why you did this."
Justin Dilbeck of Indiana, whose father was taken to the crematory, said, "You put us through a lot of pain. Just like everyone, I just want to know why."
Teresa Earl of Michigan, whose brother was taken to the crematory, said it caused her to be depressed and lose sleep. She said, "I want to know why. Will I ever know why? probably not."
Saying she had to go to identify her brother's body, she told Marsh, "You have turned my life upside down."
Shelia Manis of Chatsworth, Ga., said her husband died at 43 of Huntington's Disease and his body was taken to the crematory. She said the body was thrown outside.
She said she first felt hate and anger, but finally let go. She said that at an earlier hearing, she thought Marsh "looked like a scared little boy who, for whatever reason, made a mistake."
She said she now feels, "If it was up to me, I'd let him go today."
Lisa Coker of Chattanooga told of her husband, Y.L. Coker III, dying in December 2001 and his body going to the crematory. She said the family took some of the cremains to Lake Tahoe, according to his wishes.
Mrs. Coker said that "final tribute turned into a nightmare" when they learned they had been given cement dust. She said her sister in the West had suspicions about the cremains, saying at the time, "You must burn the bodies longer in the South."
Mrs. Coker said, "I just feel you stripped him of every bit of dignity." She said Marsh needs to explain why he did it in a letter to her four-year-old son.
Adrian Brock of Chattanooga said the Marshes were well acquainted with his brother, Van Brock, whose body was taken to the crematory. He said his brother, who was vice president of operations for Covenant Transport, died at 46 of a rare blood vessel disease.
Mr. Brock said he himself had known Brent Marsh during his football playing days because he was a football referee. He said, "If this was a football game, I would throw you out of the game."
He said his brother's body was found "in the middle of a stack of 20 bodies in the back of a barn on a stainless steel table." Mr. Brock said, "Brent, I'm so disappointed in you." He said initially, "I really wanted to get ahold of you."
Mr. Brock said he read in a law magazine that attorney Poston, had been named newsmaker of the year. He said, "That kind of made me sick at my stomach."
Julie Gosnell Kinder of Hixson said her father, Robert Gosnell, was taken to the crematory. She said Marsh "needs a sentence that reflects 787 felonies."
Saying her father's body had been thrown out on the ground, she said stress and anxiety from the case "burns the middle of my stomach."
Mrs. Kinder said she read that Clara Marsh, mother of Brent, was getting $100,000 in insurance proceeds and that his children are also getting $100,000 each. She said she recently got her settlement in the case - $3,800.
She said, "He should have to spend at least four years just for what he did to me."
She told Marsh, "You're a sicko."
Stephanie Hall Wharton of Lookout Mountain said her father, Ross Bennett Hall, was taken to the crematory. She said the family was given cremains of the World War II veteran that they buried at the National Cemetery. She said his body was later found at the crematory wrapped up in a hospital sheet.
She said her father went to Heaven upon his death and his body was just a shell. She said she has chosen "not to live in bitterness." She said the incident has given her many opportunities to share her Christian faith.
Robin Harper of Cleveland, Tn., whose mother's body went to the crematory, said she "freaked out" when she found out about it. She said, "I felt so betrayed."
Sarah Red of Lookout Mountain, whose husband, Walter Red, went to the crematory, told of their 54-year marriage, calling it "an ole-time love match." She said he was a World War II veteran who was extremely bright and a member of MENSA. She said he became executive vice president of a New York firm and studied at Stanford and Harvard. She said in later years he unloaded trucks at Goodwill Industries and planned the memorial garden at the Episcopal Church on the mountain.
Mrs. Red said, "I wonder about the mother, Clara. How could she live on the property and not know what was going on and not speak up?" She also questioned why Walker County sheriff deputies did not find the bodies on inspection trips to the crematory.
Mrs. Red said, "My grandchildren call me crying on the telephone asking why their grandfather's body was treated like this."
Calder Willingham of Chattanooga, whose mother's body went to the crematory, said his mother had a great fear of bugs and birds. And he said her body was thrown out in the woods "with the bugs and birds."
He said he had concerns about the negotiated settlement and his belief that others were involved and "skated."
Michelle Davis of Chattanooga said her grandmother "was found discarded without a second thought by a very sick man." She said, "We will never understand how her body was treated like it was less than a bag of trash."
Natasha Mann of Adairsville, Ga., whose father, Johnny Dykes, was sent to the crematory, said Marsh was two years ahead of her in high school. She said she thought of him then as "a great football player and a nice guy."
Then she learned about the crematory case "when my mother called me in hysterics. That is when our nightmare began." She said her father was found in a vault with 20 other people, though the family had been given cremains that turned out to be cement dust.
She said she believes after Marsh "meets his maker that all the hell you put us through will come back to you two fold. Life in prison would be just right for you."
Caroline Dykes of Adairsville said the family thought highly of the Marshes. She said, "How wrong we were." She said, "We still have more questions than answers."
She said, "Brent did not kill my family, but he killed a part of me and a part of me and my husband."
Ann Bailey of Chattanooga displayed a painting she made that she said summed up her feelings about what happened at the crematory, where her mother was taken.
She also read a short poem written by her husband, called "I Left My Humanity in My Other Jacket."
Pam Dietre of New Orleans said the body of her adopted brother was sent to the crematory. She said the family arrived at the funeral home to get the cremains and was told to take a long breakfast because they were not yet ready.
She said it was later found the body had been dumped in a building at the crematory.
She told of talking to Greg Ramey of the GBI, who told her he first thought his associates were pulling a joke on him at the crematory. She said he told of seeing one body lying in a casket and looking a little dusty. She said he touched the body and a big rat ran out.
Letha Shropshire, mother mother was sent to the crematory, said it has been "a nightmare that we couldn't wake up from. We felt like she had been murdered."
She said she felt he "should get 8,000 years" along with others she thinks were involved.
Karen Donaldson Gruber of Florence, Ala., whose sister was sent to the crematory, said it has left her with nightmares and put her life on hold.
She said, "I am asking you personally, Brent, to help me put this behind me so I can get on with my life. Please, speak to me. If not today, some day. . .ever."
She said his actions "have ruined the lives" of a number of people, "who are too sad and broken down to go on with their lives."
She finished, "Please, Brent, allow me to speak to you one on one. Only you can set me free."
A Hixson woman, whose mother, attorney Natalie Canada, was taken to the creamatory, chided attorney Poston for an article in which he said, "What's the fuss? It's not like Brent Marsh killed anybody."
She said after she found that her mother had been thrown into the woods "it ruined my spirits and took a toll on my health."
She said Clara Marsh has profited from the case. "I bet she is laughing all the way to the bank. I bet she can hardly contain herself."
She told Marsh, "It seems like it would have been so much easier to do what you were supposed to do."
Joe Oden of Chattanooga showed many photos of his wife, who he said he adored.
He said he wanted to ask Marsh several questions, including, "Did you think you were not going to get caught?" and "Did your conscience ever bother you when you were doing these things?"
He said, "When you got to the point where you couldn't handle it, why didn't you sub some of the work out?"
Mr. Oden said he was going down to watch the cremation, but he said Brent Marsh called to say they no longer allowed family visitors. But he said the funeral director who took his wife's body stayed until Marsh put the body in the retort and turned the machine on. He said the body was later found under a corrugated box.
He said Marsh should get one year for every body that was mishandled.
Carlene Hennessy said she felt "the families were treated like criminals and the Marshes like the hosts of the party."
She said if the sheriff's office had found the bodies when it was first reported it would have prevented 66 bodies from going there, including that of her aunt.
She asked Marsh, "What were you thinking when you did the first body? the 10th" the 100th - that's a milestone. None of us will ever understand."
She said she has tried to reason why it happened. She said it was found the machinery was workable, and she said Marsh is not stupid. She said one theory is he was lazy, but she said, "Doing the job right was easier than what you did."
She said she felt Clara Marsh "was aware of everything." Attorney Poston said Mrs. Marsh had been cleared of any involvement.