An alleged “network of individuals” that allegedly stole and sold off human remains from the mortuary at Harvard Medical School has led to the indictment of seven people.
In a joint statement, Deans George Q. Daley of Harvard University’s Faculty of Medicine and Edward M. Hundert of Harvard Medical School (HMS) announced that Cedric Lodge, the former manager of the morgue, had been charged with conspiracy and interstate transport of stolen goods.
According to a statement from the Middle District of Pennsylvania U.S. Attorney’s Office, Denise Lodge, 63, Lodge’s wife, as well as Katrina Maclean, Joshua Taylor, and Mathew Lampi, have all been indicted on the same charges.
The stolen remains were allegedly being bought and then sold again by Jeremy Pauley, 41. In Little Rock, Arkansas, Candace Chapman Scott was also charged with theft and trafficking of body parts from a morgue and crematory.
Cedric, 55, was accused of removing body parts from corpses before they were scheduled to be incinerated, selling them to customers, and opening the morgue to shoppers looking to purchase human remains.
According to Harvard, the illicit operation lasted from “in or about 2018 through on or about August 16, 2022.”
“Investigators believe that Lodge acted without the knowledge or cooperation of anyone else at HMS or Harvard,” according to a statement from Harvard, which was released after Lodge was fired on May 6.
NBC Boston reported that Lodge’s name had been removed from Harvard Medical School’s website.
The prosecution claims that Taylor, 46, paid the Lodges more than $37,000 for human remains between 2018 and 2021. He is also accused of sending Denise “$200 with a memo that read ‘braiiiiiins,'” as well as “$1,000 with a memo that read “head number 7.”
According to The New York Times, Maclean, 44, the owner of Kat’s Creepy Creations in Peabody, Massachusetts, is charged with keeping human remains at her storefront and then selling them.
The article claims that Maclean sent human skin to Pauley in June or July of 2021 so that it could be tanned into leather.
The Times reported that Pauley reportedly sold human remains to Lampi and exchanged more than $100,000 in online payments.
Prosecutors say Lodge, his wife Denise, Maclean, Taylor, Lampi, and Pauley could face 15 years in prison.
“We are appalled to learn that something so disturbing could happen on our campus — a community dedicated to healing and serving others,” Daley and Hundert wrote in the statement from Harvard. “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.”
