Global Courant
East Pennsboro Township Police Department
A former employee of the Harvard The medical school morgue has been sued the sale of human remains from donated bodies and letting buyers choose which parts they want, federal prosecutors said.
The morgue’s manager, Cedric Lodge, was part of a massive nationwide network that bought and sold human remains stolen from the university’s medical school. From 2018 to 2022, Lodge and his wife, Denise Lodge, stole the corpses, removed parts such as the head, brain, skin, and bones, and sold them to their accomplices. They also let their buyers come into the morgue and select the parts they wanted.
One of the main buyers, Katrina Maclean, allegedly agreed to purchase two human faces for a total of $600. Prosecutors also stated that Maclean kept and resold the remains she purchased through her store, Kat’s Creepy Creations, which according to her Instagram page, “sells creations that shock the mind and shake the soul”. A second buyer named Joshua Taylor sent more than $37,000 to Denise for body parts between September 2018 and July 2021.
Taylor also included memos with his payments describing what he wanted. A $1,000 payment came with a memo that read “head number 7,” and another for $200 that read “braiiiiiiins.” The operation also reportedly involved buyers purchasing stillborn babies to be cremated and returned to their families.
“Some crimes defy comprehension,” Gerard M. Karam, the U.S. attorney for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, said in a statement. “The theft and trafficking of human remains touches the very essence of what makes us human.”
Two Harvard Medical School deans told students in a statement that Lodge and his accomplices acted independently and no one else on campus knew what was happening.
“We are shocked to learn that something so disturbing could happen on our campus — a community committed to healing and serving others,” the deans wrote in their statement. “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.”
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One of the men involved in the trafficking, Jeremy Pauley, reached a plea deal in his case. According to CBS21, Pauley will plead guilty to two counts of conspiracy to commit interstate transportation of stolen property and interstate transportation of stolen property. Pauley had also purchased remains of Candace Chapman Scott of Little Rock, Arkansas, who was sued in May.
Pauley faces up to 15 years in prison, a $500,000 fine and three years of supervised release, as well as pleading guilty in open court.
The US Attorney’s office is trying to contact the families of the victims affected by this case. Anyone who believes they or a family member has been affected by this case is encouraged to call the Victim and Witness Unit at 717-614-4249 or email [email protected].
