The Lamb Funeral Home, a respected family-owned mortuary in Pasadena, descends into grisly practices after David Sconce, scion of the Lamb family, takes over the business. Deeply ambitious, Sconce covertly pursues extreme measures to beat his competitors. In 1985, a local funeral director, who starts making allegations about the crematorium's high turnover rate, succumbs to a heart attack at 24.

When the Lamb Funeral Home's crematorium is destroyed by a fire in 1986, David is undeterred and finds ways to expand the family business. As allegations of abuse mount, David is eventually arrested. When police investigate, they discover shocking evidence that points to David being possibly connected to the assault and later death of a rival mortician.

Members of the Lamb family are convicted of various crimes, including fraud. While in prison, a murder charge is brought against David for the death of his competitor, but in 1991, the charges are dropped due to a lack of hard evidence. In all, over 20,000 families were affected by the practices at the Lamb Funeral Home and David's case brings about reforms and new regulations to the mortuary business.