I’ve just recently finished listening to a new podcast series called Noble. It goes over one of the most bizarre cases in the mid 90s in a very small community in Rockspring, Georgia. In short, a crematorium run by Brent Marsh had been discovered to have buried and hidden over 300+ bodies around a plot of land belonging to his family. Once discovered, pandemonium ultimately ensued as the obvious question then became, “Well, if the body of the deceased was supposed to be cremated and now over 300+ bodies have been discovered, then just what the heck was I given in the urn that was returned to me?”

I personally have not heard of this story until now. This 8 episode podcast series started very interestingly, but slowly fizzled out as it went along. One of the main reasons for this is due to how, after two decades later, the mystery of just exactly why Brent Marsh did what he did is still a mystery. No confessions were made publicly. Almost all the reporting in the podcast is pure speculation as to the why. The podcast host does a good job of interviewing the subjects and whatnot, and you just can’t help but feel sorry for what they had to put up with. The lead investigator can also be commended for the effort he made in trying to solve the case and bring some closure to the people affected by this crime.

In a weird way, Brent Marsh didn’t actually kill anyone. He ultimately failed in doing his job, a job that many, many people placed their trust in him to complete with the utmost care, and what happened was a damn shame. In the end, some forgave him, while obviously many others couldn’t. What I didn’t like is how he was portrayed as somewhat of a victim himself by the podcast towards the end. Excuses and reasoning were thought of as to why he would do something like this from the beginning. He was not portrayed as a crazy person with ill or malicious intent, but rather just someone who couldn’t handle the pressure of running the crematorium by himself.

A normal person in my opinion would have called for help as soon as he noticed the problem. A normal person would have hired others, or at least have tried, to run the crematorium for him. This would have allowed him to keep the family business without ruining their image and everything his father and grandfather have built over the long decades. A normal person wouldn’t have hidden behind the church and his faith. A normal person would have come clean on why he did it, even if it was something as ridiculous as just being inept at doing a job he never wanted to do in the first place.

Noble is worth a listen now that all episodes have been released. Just don’t get too hyped and excited about getting any straight answers. This is a story where you’ll have to form your own theories and opinions at the end.