Corpses donated for medical research that end up being sold on the internet.
This macabre story happened in one of the most prestigious universities in the world, which belongs to what is known in the United States as the Ivy League.
The director of the Harvard Medical School morgue and three other people were charged with buying and selling stolen human remains.
Supposedly, Cedric Lodge took “heads, brains, skin and bones” of donated cadavers to Harvard Medical School and sold them on the Internet.
According to the indictment, he and his wife, Denise, sold body parts to buyers in Pennsylvania and Massachusetts.
The scheme could have been running from 2018 to 2021.
Prosecutors allege that Lodge used his position as director of Harvard Medical School’s “Anatomical Gift Program” to dismember corpses that were used for medical research.
Harvard students use donated bodies to study and practice medical procedures.
When the school is done using the corpse, they are often cremated and the remains returned to their families., or buried in the university’s medical cemetery, according to the indictment.
Lodge and his wife are accused of collecting, selling and shipping body parts from these donated corpses.
“At times, Cedric Lodge allowed [otros] entered the morgue at Harvard Medical School and examine corpses to choose what to buyaccording to a statement from the Federal Prosecutor’s Office.
Katrina Maclean of Salem, Massachusetts, and Joshua Taylor, of West Lawn, Pennsylvania, allegedly purchased body parts.
According to the indictment statement, in October 2020, Maclean bought dissected faces for $600 with the intention of tanning them into leather.
Maclean owns a shop called Kat’s Creepy Creations.
Several social media accounts point to her specializing in turning dolls into gothic, blood-soaked, horror novelties.
It is not clear if the parts of the carcasses were used in their products.
The indictment alleges that he stored and sold human remains at the store.
For his part, Taylor allegedly made 39 electronic payments to Mrs. Lodge for stolen body parts over the course of four years.
“Head number 7”
The total amounts to plus $37,000.
The indictment included a grim reference to a PayPal note for a $1,000 purchase that read “head number 7.”
“Some crimes defy comprehension,” US Attorney Gerard M. Karam said in a statement.
“The theft and trafficking of human remains attacks the very essence of what makes us human.”
Both Cedric and Denise Lodge they refused to answer the questions from reporters after making an initial appearance in a New Hampshire federal court on Wednesday.
All four defendants have been indicted on counts of conspiracy and interstate transportation of stolen property.
If convicted, each faces up to 15 years in prison.
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