Four indicted over ‘appalling’ theft of body parts from Harvard Medical School

Edward Helmore in New York and agencies
·3 min read
<span>Photograph: Brian Snyder/Reuters</span>
Photograph: Brian Snyder/Reuters

The manager of the morgue at Harvard Medical School and three other people were indicted for allegedly selling human body parts stolen from the school and a morgue in Arkansas, according to a federal complaint.

Cedric Lodge, 55, formerly manager of the morgue for the Anatomical Gifts Program at Harvard Medical School, in Boston, is alleged to have stolen organs and other parts of cadavers between 2018 and 2022, and with his wife, Denise Lodge, 63, to have sold the remains online.

Lodge, the government contends, stole “heads, brains, skin, bones and other human remains … and removed those remains from the morgue in Massachusetts and transported them to his residence in New Hampshire”.

Lodge is alleged to have allowed two others named in the indictment, Katrina Maclean, 44, owner of Kat’s Creepy Creations, a store in Peabody, Massachusetts, and Joshua Taylor, 46, to enter the morgue and choose what to take.

In one instance, prosecutors said, Maclean “agreed to purchase two dissected faces for $600”. Investigators also say Maclean shipped human skin to another defendant in Pennsylvania and “engaged his services to tan the skin to create leather”.

Denise Lodge, left, covers her face with a printout of the indictment against her as she walks from the federal courthouse in Concord, New Hampshire, on Wednesday.
Denise Lodge, left, covers her face with a printout of the indictment against her as she walks from the federal courthouse in Concord, New Hampshire, on Wednesday. Photograph: Steven Porter/AP

Taylor allegedly sent more than $37,000 to Denise Lodge for body parts stolen by her husband. In one transfer in November 2020, Taylor sent $200 with a memo that read: “braiiiiiins”.

The defendants are alleged to have coordinated by cellphone and social media, and sometimes to have “shipped remains through the United States Postal Service”.

Gerard Karam, US attorney for Pennsylvania, said: “Some crimes defy understanding.”

Karam added: “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. With these charges, we are seeking to secure some measure of justice for all these victims.”

In a statement titled “An abhorrent betrayal”, the Harvard medical school deans George Daley and Edward Hundert called the alleged actions “morally reprehensible”.

“We are appalled to learn that something so disturbing could happen on our campus – a community dedicated to healing and serving others,” the deans said.

Harvard said it was working with authorities to figure out which donors may have been affected and has set up a webpage for donor families in light of the news.

The maximum sentence on the charges concerned is 15 years in prison.

Denise and Cedric Lodge both made initial court appearances on Wednesday in federal court in Concord, New Hampshire, and were each released on personal recognisance bail. They declined comment as they left the courthouse.

  • Associated Press contributed to this report