The investigations indicate that the first contact with the buyers was via email, to later conclude the purchase in the University morgue.
Photo: JAM STA ROSA / AFP / Getty Images
A Harvard Medical School morgue manager, his wife, and three others are defendants in connection with the theft and sale of human body parts belonging to the School.
According to Pennsylvania federal prosecutors, Cedric Lodge, 55, of Goffstown, New Hampshire, a morgue manager, stole stuffed portions of cadavers that were donated to the school in the scheme that ran from 2018 to early 2023, according to court documents.
According to statements by the same school authorities, who up to now have cooperated with the investigation, human remains, material for educational purposes, were taken without authorization of the University.
Lodge would steal stuffed portions of cadavers that were donated to the school. The remains, which included donated cadaver parts such as; brains, skin and boneswould bring them to his home where he lived with his wife, Denise, 63, and mail them to buyers, authorities said.
After the buyers chose which parts they wanted to buy, Lodge allowed them to enter the morgue to conclude their sale, giving them everything agreed.
Bodies donated to Harvard Medical School are used for educational, teaching, or research purposes. Once they are no longer needed, corpses are usually cremated and the ashes returned to the donor’s family or are buried in a cemetery.
So far, the investigations point to several people involved, in addition to Lodge and his wife; Katrina Maclean, 44, of Salem, Massachusetts; Joshua Taylor, 46, of West Lawn, Pennsylvania, and Mathew Lampi, 52, of East Bethel, Minnesota, with conspiracy and interstate transportation of stolen property.
According to prosecutors, the defendants were part of a national network of people who bought and sold stolen remains from the school and an Arkansas morgue.
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