The manager of a morgue at Harvard Medical School has been accused of selling body parts obtained from donated cadavers, federal prosecutors said on Wednesday. Additionally, the manager allegedly allowed potential buyers to visit the morgue and select the specific body parts they wanted.
Cedric Lodge, the manager of the morgue at Harvard Medical School, is accused of illegally taking body parts from cadavers that were donated for scientific research and education at the university. The stolen body parts were then transported to Lodge's home in Goffstown, New Hampshire where he and his wife Denise are accused of selling them as part of a larger network involved in trafficking human remains across the country.
Trafficking Human Remains
Seven people including Cedric Lodge, 55, and Denise Lodge, 63, were arrested and charged with stealing and selling human remains from mortuaries at the Ivy League school and the University of Arkansas, prosecutors said.
The arrests involved an underground network that robbed corpses — including the bodies of two stillborn infants — at Harvard Medical School's Anatomical Gifts Program and an Arkansas mortuary and crematorium, U.S. Attorney Gerard M. Karam said in a statement Wednesday.
Cedric Lodge allegedly stole the remains and sold them online with the help of his wife, Denise, to associates Katrina Maclean, Joshua Taylor, and Matthew Lampi.
Lampi's client, Jeremy Pauley, bought and sold body parts with him, resulting in an exchange of over $100,000 between them.
Pauley ultimately provided information that led detectives to Candace Chapman Scott, who is accused of stealing cadavers slated for cremation in Little Rock and selling them to Pauley in Pennsylvania.
Notably, many of the bodies Scott is accused of selling were originally donated for scientific research purposes at the University of Arkansas Medical Sciences.
Karam spoke to the defendants' alleged involvement in and setting up of an underground market as "some crimes defy understanding." "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," he added. "For them and their families to be taken advantage of in the name of profit is appalling."
Tip of the Iceberg
Among the body parts that were sold were two desiccated faces, with MacLean reportedly paying Lodge $600 for them. In 2020, Taylor allegedly sent Denise $200 with a memo stating, "braiiiiiins."
Prosecutors also alleged that Lodge allowed buyers to enter the morgue in Boston and personally select the desired body parts, which he would then steal and ship through the mail.
Lodge had been employed at Harvard Medical School since 1995 until his termination on May 6.
The school is now working with the federal authorities to assess the potential impact on donors and their families in response to the situation. They have launched a hotline to provide information and support to the families of the donors.
Harvard Medical School insists that no other employees at the institution are facing charges or are under suspicion for any wrongdoing in relation to this case. "We are appalled to learn that something so disturbing could happen on our campus — a community dedicated to healing and serving others," the school's medical deans said in a 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."
According to a statement from the Department of Justice, Pauley, 40, had previously been arrested and charged for offenses including abuse of a corpse, receiving stolen property, and dealing in the proceeds of unlawful activities. These charges were filed against him last summer.
Moreover, it has been alleged that Pauley also acquired body parts that were stolen from a crematorium in Little Rock, Arkansas. The theft of these body parts was reportedly carried out by Candace Chapman Scott.
Pauley, in addition to his previous legal troubles, is the owner of The Grand Wunderkammer, a shop that specializes in selling peculiar and extraordinary items to the public and museum exhibitions. According to information available on his Facebook profile, he also holds the positions of executive director and curator at The Memento Mori Museum.
Pauley was arrested in June 2022 by police following a tip regarding suspicious activities and his collections. The informant reported discovering multiple five-gallon buckets filled with human remains in Pauley's basement.
Subsequently, investigators successfully located and retrieved the remains mentioned in the tip. The recovered body parts included human brains, hearts, livers, skin, and lungs.
The defendants involved in this case are facing charges of conspiracy and the unlawful transportation of stolen goods. If convicted, these charges can carry a maximum penalty of up to 15 years of imprisonment.
