By HARRY R. WEBER

ROME, Ga. (AP) - A former crematory operator accused of dumping 334 bodies on his property and passing off cement dust as ashes broke a sacred trust, the plaintiffs' lawyer said Friday. In her opening statements, Kathryn Barnett urged jurors to punish the operator of the family-owned Tri-State Crematory for engaging in a culture of "disrespect for the dead that stretched from father to son."

Ray Brent Marsh allegedly stopped performing cremations in 1997, when he took over the family business from his father. In 2002, dozens of decomposing corpses were found stacked in storage sheds and scattered in woods outside the crematory in rural northwest Georgia.

The suit seeks unspecified damages against Marsh for about 1,600 people who accuse him of negligence and fraud. He also faces 787 felony charges for the uncremated bodies.

The lawsuit also names some of Marsh's family members who served as officers at the crematory and five funeral homes that sent corpses there.

Funeral home lawyer Andy Davis said his clients should not be held responsible.

"This case is about deception, perhaps the greatest deception ever," Davis said. "The facts are undisputed. Ray Brent Marsh deceived us all."

Frank Jenkins, a lawyer for Marsh, said the police rushed to judgment and conducted a sloppy investigation. The resulting media frenzy, he said, caused hundreds of families to believe Marsh didn't cremate their loved ones when he actually did.

Forty-seven funeral homes have reached settlements with the plaintiffs, who said the homes failed to monitor the crematory despite numerous complaints. In total, settlements have reached more than $20 million, said Robert Smalley, a lawyer for the plaintiffs.

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