Marsh kept a log of bodies at site

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7/02 ]

By NORMAN AREY Atlanta Journal-Constitution Staff Writer Crematory operator Ray Brent Marsh kept a detailed log that allowed him to identify the human remains he allegedly stashed on his property, according to court documents.

Marsh used this crude record as he helped investigators catalog the uncremated bodies discovered on his family's Walker County property last February, the documents say.

As they toured the crematory grounds, Marsh provided GBI agents with the name he believed belonged to each corpse. The investigators would write the names on index cards, which were dropped on the corresponding bodies. Eventually 339 bodies were discovered at Tri-State Crematory.

The fresh details suggest Marsh was far more methodical in handling the bodies than seemed likely from previous depictions by officials, who portrayed him as hopelessly disorganized.

The information is contained in an affidavit of a potential witness in civil litigation against Marsh. The witness, Dr. Anthony B. Falsetti, was present during an August presentation on the case in Florida by Georgia chief medical examiner Dr. Kris Sperry.

Falsetti is a forensic anthropologist and an associate professor at the University of Florida. Much of the information presented by Sperry had not been previously disclosed.

Marsh has been charged with 334 counts of theft by deception and 64 counts of abuse of a corpse after the bodies were discovered strewn about, buried or stacked on the crematory property.

The affidavit includes previously undisclosed specifics about what investigators found. The medical examiner said the GBI found 59 bodies in five vaults on the Marsh property. Eleven pits contained human bodies and some of the bodies had arm bands from hospitals, which were used as leads to identify some of the remains that Marsh could not.

Marsh received bodies directly from hospitals and nursing homes, according to the affidavit's account of Sperry's presentation. About 20 percent of the bodies had been embalmed, making it impossible to extract DNA. These bodies may never be identified.

Marsh was released on bond last month and is under house arrest. A preliminary hearing on his criminal case is scheduled for Monday.

-- Anonymous, September 07, 2002

Answers

I'll bet he made up the identities just to keep more families from taking him to court.

-- Anonymous, September 07, 2002

Why can't they extract DNA from the hair on an embalmed corpse?

-- Anonymous, September 10, 2002

I believe the hair DNA actually comes from the root of the hair, not the hair itself. If embalming fluids were put into the body, I expect they soaked into all the squishy bits.

-- Anonymous, September 10, 2002

even with embalming the hair and nails continue to grow.

Oddly enough, this is not reflected in any horror shows with living dead bodies wandering around.

also, there are the bones. they can extract DNA from bone fragments.

-- Anonymous, September 10, 2002


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