‘A betrayal’: Several charged with trafficking body parts stolen from Harvard Medical School morgue
Two dissected faces for $600. Human brains for $200. “Head number 7″ for $1,000.
A former morgue manager at Harvard Medical School, his wife and a Peabody business owner are among several people accused of trafficking body parts stolen from the school’s morgue that were intended for use by researchers in a grotesque multi-state scheme, with some of the body parts sold via Facebook and PayPal and shipped through U.S. Postal Service mail, court documents allege.
Cedric Lodge, 55, and his wife, Denise Lodge, 63, both of Goffstown, New Hampshire, and Katrina Maclean, 44, of Salem, owner of Kat’s Creepy Creations in Peabody, are among those indicted by a federal grand jury in Pennsylvania on conspiracy and interstate transport of stolen goods charges, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania.
Cedric Lodge is accused of allowing people to visit the Harvard morgue where he worked as manager to “examine cadavers to choose what to purchase,” prosecutors said.
Wearing a gray T-shirt and surrounded by reporters, Cedric Lodge remained silent while leaving a New Hampshire court on Wednesday. His wife, Denise, shielded her face from reporters as she separately left a New Hampshire court. Maclean, wearing sunglasses, held hands with an unidentified man while leaving U.S. District Court in Boston.
Also indicted on the trafficking charges were Joshua Taylor, 46, of West Lawn, Pennsylvania, and Mathew Lampi, 52, of East Bethel, Minnesota.
Additionally, Jeremy Pauley, 41, of Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, was charged by criminal information, and Candace Chapman Scott, of Little Rock, Arkansas, was previously indicted in the Eastern District of Arkansas.
Pauley was arrested last year in Pennsylvania for allegedly buying human remains on Facebook.
‘The conspiracy’
Prosecutors allege that from 2018 through 2022, Cedric Lodge, while managing the morgue for the Anatomical Gifts Program at Harvard Medical School, stole organs and other parts of cadavers donated for medical research and education before their scheduled cremations, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
He is accused of taking the stolen cadaver parts from the university morgue to his home in Goffstown, New Hampshire, from where his wife, Denise, then sold the remains to Katrina Maclean, owner of Kat’s Creepy Creations in Peabody, who then sold the stolen body parts at her business, court documents allege.
FBI agents were seen at Maclean’s Peabody business and Salem home in March.
Kat’s Creepy Creations sells dolls and “Creations that shock the mind & shake the soul. Creepy dolls, Oddities, Bone Art,” according to the Instagram page for the business.
According to the indictment filed Tuesday in U.S. District in Pennsylvania, from 2018 to March of this year, the Lodges, Maclean and Taylor all conspired with Pauley and others to transport the stolen body parts from Boston to New Hampshire and Pennsylvania. At times, they allegedly used the U.S. Postal Service to ship the remains.
Maclean is accused of selling the stolen remains “to buyers in multiple states” including Pauley in Pennsylvania, and she also “stored and sold stolen remains at Kat’s Creepy Creations,” the indictment states.
Denise Lodge also allegedly sold cadaver remains to Joshua Taylor and others by using her cell phone and social media websites, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
“At times, Cedric Lodge allowed Maclean and Taylor to enter the morgue at Harvard Medical School and examine cadavers to choose what to purchase,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. “On some occasions, Taylor transported stolen remains back to Pennsylvania. On other occasions, the Lodges shipped stolen remains to Taylor and others out of state.”
In October 2020, Maclean “agreed to purchase two dissected faces for $600″ from Cedric Lodge, and the two agreed to meet at the Harvard Medical School morgue on Oct. 28, 2020 “to conduct the transaction,” the indictment states.
The indictment further alleges that in June and July 2021, Maclean “shipped human skin” to Pauley for him to “tan the skin to create leather.” On July 31, 2021, Pauley sent a photograph of the leather “and Maclean agreed to provide Pauley with human skin in lieu of monetary payment,” the indictment states.
“Maclean then contacted Cedric Lodge and inquired about obtaining human skin to send to ‘the dude I sent the chest piece to tan,’” the indictment states, alleging that on Aug. 15, 2021, Pauley shipped the tanned human skin from Pennsylvania to Maclean’s Massachusetts address.
The indictment alleges that between September 2018 and July 2021, Taylor transferred 39 electronic payments totaling $37,355 to a PayPal account of Denise Lodge, in payment for human remains stolen by her husband, Cedric, from Harvard Medical School.
On May 19, 2019, Taylor allegedly sent Denise Lodge $1,000 with a memo stating “head number 7,” the indictment states. And on Nov. 20, 2020, Taylor allegedly sent her $200 with a memo that read, “braiiiiiins.”
‘An abhorrent betrayal’
Harvard University officials on Wednesday decried the alleged crimes on campus.
“We are appalled to learn that something so disturbing could happen on our campus — a community dedicated to healing and serving others,” George Daley, Dean of Faculty of Medicine at Harvard University, and Edward Hundert, Dean for Medical Education at Harvard Medical School, said in a joint statement.
“The reported incidents are a betrayal of HMS and, most importantly, each of the individuals who altruistically chose to will their bodies to HMS through the Anatomical Gift Program to advance medical education and research,” the statement said. “We are so very sorry for the pain this news will cause for our anatomical donors’ families and loved ones, and HMS pledges to engage with them during this deeply distressing time.”
Harvard has established the following specifically for family members and next of kin:
Webpage with available resources for donor families and next of kin.
Toll-free information and support center staffed by specially-trained counselors, who are currently available 24/7 at 1-888-268-1129.
The Anatomical Gift Program at Harvard Medical School accepts donations of cadavers from the public for use for research and teaching purposes by medical and dental students, according to the school’s website and the indictment.
The school documents the identities of the donated cadavers and maintains a database and record of each cadaver, the indictment states. As morgue manager, Cedric Lodge was tasked with confirming the identity of each cadaver prior to cremation via identifying marks and assigned identification numbers.
“Employees of Harvard Medical School are not permitted to remove, keep, or sell any human remains, in whole or in part, belonging to a donated cadaver,” the indictment states.
After a period of up to 24 months, when research studies are completed, Harvard Medical School disposes of the remains “as elected on the Instrument of Anatomical Gift, to the extent consistent with the current policy of Harvard Medical School,” the school website states.
People may reclaim the remains at the expense of the donor estate or family for private burial, or they may request that the school arranges for cremation.
Cremated remains can be returned to the donor’s designee, picked up by the donor’s designee at Harvard, or buried at Pine Hill Cemetery in Tewksbury in a registered grave, at Harvard’s expense, according to the school.
A memorial service for donors buried at Pine Hill Cemetery takes place each year in the fall.
Prosecutors allege that after the Lodges shopped around and shipped the stolen remains out-of-state, Maclean and Taylor resold the remains for profit, including to Pauley in Pennsylvania. Pauley also purchased stolen human remains from Scott, who stole remains from her employer, a Little Rock, Arkansas mortuary and crematorium, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
“Scott stole parts of cadavers she was supposed to have cremated, many of which had been donated to and used for research and educational purposes by an area medical school, as well as the corpses of two stillborn babies who were supposed to be cremated and returned as cremains to their families,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. “Scott sold the stolen remains to Pauley and shipped them to Pauley in the Middle District of Pennsylvania. Pauley sold many of the stolen remains he purchased to other individuals, including Matthew Lampi. Lampi and Pauley bought and sold from each other over an extended period of time and exchanged over $100,000 in online payments.”
Prosecutors echoed the sentiment of Harvard Medical School officials in decrying the alleged trafficking of human remains.
“Some crimes defy understanding,” U.S. Attorney Gerard Karam of Pennsylvania said in a statement. “The theft and trafficking of human remains strikes at the very essence of what makes us human. It is particularly egregious that so many of the victims here volunteered to allow their remains to be used to educate medical professionals and advance the interests of science and healing.”
“For them and their families to be taken advantage of in the name of profit is appalling,” Karam said. “With these charges, we are seeking to secure some measure of justice for all these victims. I’d like to thank Harvard Medical School, which is also a victim here, for their cooperation in this investigation.”
The FBI, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and U.S. Attorney’s offices in multiple state districts, including Arkansas, investigated the case.
“The defendants violated the trust of the deceased and their families all in the name of greed,” FBI Special Agent in Charge Jacqueline Maguire said in a statement. “While today’s charges cannot undo the unfathomable pain this heinous crime has caused, the FBI will continue to work tirelessly to see that justice is served.”
The U.S. Attorney’s Office is working to identify and contact as many of the victims and victims’ families affected by this case as possible.
Anyone who believes they or a family member may have been affected by this case is urged to call the Victim and Witness Unit at 717-614-4249 or email usapam-victim.information@usdoj.gov.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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