Charles A. Wiley Jr.

The Georgia Farm Bureau's Atlanta attorney, Charles A. Wiley Jr., on Thursday called the settlement "a compromise resolution in an effort to avoid the continuing expense of litigation."

Wiley insisted that the Georgia Farm Bureau ultimately would have been exempt from liability concerning the Tri-State corpses.But "we could take that [litigation] money and create a limited [settlement] fund," he said.

"It has always been our position that the homeowner's policy did not insure the crematory business, much less the intentional acts of not cremating bodies," said Farm Bureau attorney Charles A. Wiley Jr., a partner at Fain, Major, Wiley & Brennan in Atlanta.Wiley added that the Farm Bureau didn't participate in the settlement negotiations.

T. Ray Brent Marsh, the operator of the crematory, and his family are considered judgment-proof.