Darryl J. Roberts has spent his entire life in and around the funeral and cemetery industries.  During those 30 years, he met and worked with a number of highly reputable people in the business.  "Unfortunately," Roberts said, "I also encountered an even larger number of less ethical, less consumer-oriented individuals."   Roberts retired in the fall of 1994 and began organizing the notes that eventually led to his whistle-blowing book, PROFITS OF DEATH: An Insider Exposes the Death Care Industries.  Both his book and its website (www.profitsofdeath.com) are designed for the sole purpose of educating the public.  In them, Roberts exposes many of the tactics used by funeral homes and cemeteries to mislead and seduce consumers into spending far more than they need to when making final arrangements.  He offers several tips on minimizing the cost of funerals and burials. 

Roberts grew up in the death care industries.  By the age of 12, he was already helping his father with his West Virginia cemetery business.  He received B.S. Degree in Business from the University of Tennessee in 1967, and continued with post-graduate studies at the West Virginia College of Graduate Studies.  In the summers during college, he began his professional career as a memorial counselor selling cemetery lots.   After graduation, he became the manager of one of his father's corporate properties in Virginia. 

After his father passed away in 1980, Roberts became president of the corporation which then consisted of 26 cemeteries and three funeral homes. Roberts served on the board of directors of the West Virginia Cemetery Association from 1970 to 1978, was its president from 1974 to 1975, and was elected president emeritus of the organization in 1993.  He was also a member of the board of directors of the Pre-Arrangement Association of America from 1972 to 1980, and served as its president from 1975 to 1976. In addition, he served on the board of the Ohio Association of Cemeteries from 1976 to 1978.   He was a founding member of the Cemetery Service Council (an organization designed to assist consumers and cemeteries in the resolution of disputes) and served as its president in 1983.   

Roberts was featured on the CBS television program 60 Minutes on Sunday, February 1, 1998.  CBS correspondent Lesley Stahl interviewed Roberts about the rapid consolidation of the funeral industry by a few major conglomerates.  The show's segment, titled "The High Costs of Dying," echoed Roberts' concern that just three companies now handle nearly one-fourth of all U.S. funerals.  In the process, they are drastically raising the costs (in one instance cited in the show, by more than 50% in just the past three years).   His book was reviewed in Phoenix Magazine (February 1998) and has been quoted in dozens of other major publications including Kiplinger's Magazine (May and July 1997) and Money Magazine (September 1997).   

In 1997, Roberts and his book publisher, Five Star Publications, Inc., of Chandler, Arizona, were sued by Service Corporation International (SCI), one of the largest funeral home/cemetery conglomerates in the world, and the firms' chief executive officer, Robert L. Waltrip.  In the suit, SCI and Waltrip alleged that Roberts and his publisher defamed them claiming they falsely accused Waltrip of stating that it was his goal to turn SCI into "the True Value Hardware of the funeral-service industry."  "The quote," said Roberts, "was taken directly from an article that appeared in Business Week in its August 25, 1986 issue."  The article was titled "Bob Waltrip is Making Big Noises in a Quiet Industry - His Service Corp. Expects to Acquire 50 Mortuaries and Cemeteries Just this Year."     

After Roberts' 1998 appearance on 60 Minutes, SCI and Waltrip filed a motion to amend their original lawsuit to include allegedly libelous statements made by Roberts on the show.  Among the statements challenged were the comment that "conglomerates come into town (and) raise prices fairly quickly," and an alleged implication that SCI businesses charge $800 for opening and closing a grave when their costs are only $50.  SCI and Waltrip accused Roberts and Five Star Publications of falsely claiming that SCI engages in deceptive trade practices, price gouging, and other unfair practices.  Charles L. Babcock and John K. Edw ards, with the law firm of Jackson Walker, L.L.P., of Houston, represented Roberts and his publisher.  In January 1998, the law firm filed a summary judgment regarding the original lawsuit.  "We are optimistic of a favorable outcome," Edwards said.  "In our opinion, the original defamation claim borders on the frivolous."  Regarding the inclusion in the lawsuit of the statements made on 60 Minutes, Edwards added, "Interestingly, out of all the statements that were made by various people during the 60 Minutes segment, the plaintiffs choose to focus on two or three comments made by one individual, who just happens to be the same person they are already suing over a single quotation.  If the plaintiffs think that Roberts and his publisher are little folks who can't fight back, they are wrong.  We intend to vigorously defend the important First Amendment rights at stake in this lawsuit."  Case Dismissed   The federal judge in the case eventually dismissed all of the defamation charges against Roberts and his publisher, and Waltrip and SCI subsequently dropped all of their charges regarding the 60 Minutes broadcast.  "I never doubted that this case would not go to court, or even get to the point of deposing the principles about the facts surrounding the case," Roberts said.  "In my opinion, the whole affair was a classic example of the death care industry once again attempting to 'kill the messenger.'  Whenever the truth about the industry emerges, their leaders begin a campaign to attack whomever the messenger is with little or no concern for the facts involved.  Roberts concluded, "It must be devastating for the industry to think that the public may actually learn what the industry does to misinform them.  On the one hand, all industry participants say that they want the public to be informed.  At the same time, however, they do everything possible to keep this information away from the public."