HBO's three-part documentary series The Mortician, directed and produced by Joshua Rofé, premiered June 1, 2025, uncovering one of America's most disturbing criminal operations hidden behind the respectable facade of a family-run mortuary. The series has become HBO's most-watched documentary in over five years, drawing 0.166 million viewers in its opening week and maintaining strong momentum through its three-episode run ending June 15.

The documentary centers on Lamb Funeral Home in Pasadena, California, a business that traces its roots to the funeral home's original founder. What began as a legitimate family enterprise descended into criminality in the early 1980s when David Sconce, son of owners Jerry W. Sconce and Laurieanne Lamb Sconce and great-grandson of the funeral home's founder, took control of operations. A former high school quarterback, Sconce transformed the business into a criminal enterprise that shocked even seasoned investigators.

According to the series, the Hesperia crematorium operated by Sconce ran 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Neighbors soon noticed an alarming pattern: excessive smoke billowing continuously from the facility. Fellow morticians in the area grew suspicious of the unusually high volume of cremations being reported. These red flags would eventually lead to investigations that revealed a shocking operation involving the mass cremation of human remains, the harvesting of organs without consent, the theft of valuables from corpses—including gold teeth—and the operation of illegal crematorium facilities.

What made the case even more sinister were allegations that Sconce had orchestrated murder plots. According to court documents and investigative reporting featured in the documentary, Sconce allegedly hired hitmen and conspired to poison business rivals, actions that extended his criminal enterprise far beyond the walls of the funeral home.

The documentary draws on interviews with David Sconce himself, investigative journalists Ashley Dunn and David Geary, and victims affected by the funeral home's operations. Their accounts piece together a narrative of deception, greed, and shocking disrespect for the dead—and the families entrusted them with their loved ones' final arrangements.

Sconce's legal reckoning came in 1989, when he pleaded guilty to 21 criminal counts including mutilating corpses, conducting mass cremations, and hiring hitmen. He was sentenced to five years in prison but was released after serving just 2.5 years in 1991. That early release, however, was not the end of his legal troubles. In 2013, Sconce was sentenced again—this time to 25 years to life—for violating the terms of his probation. He remained incarcerated until his parole release in 2023.

The series has resonated strongly with audiences and critics alike. It holds an 85 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes and has surpassed other recent HBO documentary releases including Chimp Crazy, Pee-wee as Himself, and Love Has Won: The Cult of Mother God in viewership. The documentary is rated TV-MA and is available on HBO Max, also known as Max.

The Mortician serves as a stark reminder of how institutional trust can be catastrophically violated and how criminal enterprises can hide in plain sight within seemingly respectable businesses. For families who used Lamb Funeral Home during the period of Sconce's operations, the documentary raises painful questions about what happened to their loved ones' remains.

**Sources**

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mortician_(TV_series)

https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/story/2025-06-01/the-mortician-hbo-review

https://www.realityblurred.com/realitytv/2025/06/the-mortician-thats-not-a-person-anymore-true-crime/

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/the_mortician