The Harvard Medical School morgue manager allegedly stole and sold heads, brains, skin and other body parts, according to a federal indictment filed Wednesday.
Cedric Lodge is said to have stolen the remains of cadavers donated to the prestigious university for scientific research and teaching.
The filing states that Lodge took the dissected body parts to his home in Goffstown New Hampshire, where he and his wife, Denise, resold them as part of a national network of traffickers.
Some remains were even shipped through the United States Postal Service.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office believes Lodge engaged in the illegal trafficking of human remains between 2018 and August 16, 2022 while working at the morgue as part of the university’s Anatomical Gift Program.
Cedric Lodge (pictured) is said to have stolen the remains of cadavers donated to the prestigious university for scientific research and teaching.
Several buyers have also been named in the indictment, including Jeremy Pauley (pictured)
Cedric Lodge allegedly stole remains of cadavers donated to Harvard Medical School for scientific research and education
Lodge had been at Harvard since 1995 until the Medical School terminated his employment on May 6 of this year.
The school is now working with federal authorities to determine which donors may have been effected and has set up a hotline for donor families to access information and support.
Harvard insists that no other school staff be charged or suspected of any wrongdoing.
Several purchasers are also named in the indictment, including Joshua Taylor, of West Lawn, Pennsylvania, and Katrina MacLean, of Salem, Massachusetts, who owned and operated a business called Kat’s Creepy Creations in Peabody, Massachusetts.
“At times, Cedric Lodge used his access to the morgue to let Katrina MacLean, Joshua Taylor, and others into the morgue and choose what was left for sale,” the lawsuit said.
Maclean is also accused of reselling the remains he obtained to other buyers in multiple states, including Jeremy Pauley of Enola and Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania.
In October 2020, Maclean sold two dissected faces and skin to Pauley for $600, who was hired to tan the skin and turn it into leather before shipping it back to Maclean.
The suit states that Pauley made $8,800 to MacLean and 25 payments totaling $40,049.04 to Taylor via PayPal.
Pauley, 40, had previously been arrested and charged with abuse of a corpse, receiving stolen property and trading the proceeds of illegal activity
Alleged buyer Katrina MacLean, of Salem, Massachusetts, who owned and operated a business called Kat’s Creepy Creations in Peabody, Massachusetts
Maclean is also accused of reselling the remains he obtained to other buyers in multiple states, including to Jeremy Pauley
Pauley, 40, had previously been arrested and charged with abuse of a corpse, receiving stolen property and trading the proceeds of illegal activity last summer.
Pauley also purchased body parts stolen from a crematorium in Little Rock, Arkansas, by Candace Chapman Scott, according to a statement from the Justice Department.
Scott is accused, among other things, of taking the corpses of two stillborn babies whose remains were to be cremated.
Pauley, in turn, resold many of the remains to others, the charges allege.
Pauley is the owner of The Grand Wunderkammer – a shop that sells ‘strange and unusual’ items to the public and museum exhibits. According to his Facebook, he is also the executive director and curator of the Memento Mori Museum.
He was arrested last June after police received a tip about Pauley’s suspicious activities and his collections.
The caller said they found “several” five-gallon buckets of human remains in Pauley’s basement.
Researchers later recovered the remains, which included human brains, hearts, livers, skin and lungs.
The charges of the Lodges, MacLean and Taylor listed in the grand jury indictment include conspiracy and interstate transportation of stolen property.
“Some crimes defy comprehension,” US attorney Gerard M. Karam said in a statement about the charges.
‘The theft and trade in human remains touches the essence of what makes us human.
“It is particularly egregious that so many victims here have volunteered for their remains to be used to train medical professionals and advance the interests of science and healing.
Addition: “It is appalling that they and their families are being taken advantage of in the name of profit. With these charges we are trying to ensure some degree of justice for all these victims.’
In a statement, George Q. Daley, the dean of Harvard Medical School, described Lodge’s behavior as “abhorrent betrayal” and “morally reprehensible.”
“We are shocked to learn that something so disturbing could happen on our campus – a community committed to healing and serving others.
“The reported incidents are a betrayal of HMS and, more importantly, each of the individuals who altruistically chose to donate their bodies to HMS through the Anatomical Gift Program to advance medical education and research.”
Add: “We are deeply sorry for the pain this news will cause the families and loved ones of our anatomical donors, and HMS pledges to reach out to them at this deeply troubling time.”