Former Harvard Health-related University morgue supervisor is accused of stealing, offering and shipping human body parts, indictment states
CNN
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A former morgue supervisor at Harvard Health care University is struggling with federal expenses for allegedly thieving, promoting and delivery human human body pieces, according to an indictment.
Cedric Lodge, 55, who labored at the professional medical school’s morgue in Boston, “stole dissected parts of donated cadavers, including…heads, brains, pores and skin, bones, and other human remains, with no the knowledge or authorization of (the school) and taken out those people remains from the morgue in Massachusetts and transported them to his home in New Hampshire,” the federal indictment, filed Tuesday in US District Court docket for the Center District of Pennsylvania, claimed.
Lodge allegedly conspired with his wife, Denise, 63, to market the human remains to other folks, like Katrina Maclean, 44, and Joshua Taylor, 46, according to the indictment.
Maclean is the proprietor of Kat’s Creepy Creations, a store in Peabody, Massachusetts, wherever she allegedly bought the stolen overall body parts to others, the courtroom documents condition.
The Lodges, Maclean and Taylor are all billed in the indictment with conspiracy and interstate transport of stolen items.
CNN’s attempts to get to the Lodges and Maclean for remark have been unsuccessful. Taylor’s legal professional, Christopher Opiel, informed CNN they have no comment on the allegations.
“Some crimes defy comprehending,” US legal professional for the Middle District of Pennsylvania Gerard M. Karam explained in a statement.
“The theft and trafficking of human continues to be strikes at the extremely essence of what makes us human. It is specifically egregious that so numerous of the victims in this article volunteered to enable their stays to be used to educate clinical experts and advance the passions of science and healing. For them and their people to be taken gain of in the title of profit is appalling. With these fees, we are trying to find to protected some evaluate of justice for all these victims.”
Federal prosecutors explained in a news launch that 3 other persons also facial area costs in independent indictments in relationship to the scenario, which include a person who was previously indicted in Arkansas.
Cedric Lodge was fired by Harvard Health-related Faculty on Could 6, in accordance to a letter from the university. University officers identified as Lodge’s actions “an abhorrent betrayal.” The other individuals indicted are not affiliated with Harvard.
Human continues to be are voluntarily donated to Harvard’s healthcare faculty for educational applications. When the health-related college is finished with the remains, they are usually cremated and are possibly returned to the donor’s household or buried in a cemetery in Tewksbury, Massachusetts, prosecutors claimed in courtroom documents.
The Lodges are alleged to have stolen, marketed and transported the remains – occasionally by the US Postal Services – from 2018 by way of early March 2023, in accordance to prosecutors.
They are accused of speaking with purchasers, including Maclean and Taylor, through mobile cell phone phone calls and social media, the indictment states.
Cedric Lodge also allegedly authorized Maclean and Taylor into the Harvard Clinical Faculty morgue so they could decide on what stays to purchase, according to the indictment. Maclean allegedly compensated Cedric Lodge $600 for two dissected faces in October 2020, the indictment said.
Maclean is also accused of providing stolen system sections to other potential buyers in a number of states, together with allegedly providing human pores and skin to a Pennsylvania male who tanned it to build leather, the indictment stated.
Taylor has paid out more than $37,000 via 39 PayPal payments to the Lodges for the system components, prosecutors mentioned.
On May well 19, 2019, Taylor allegedly despatched a $1,000 payment to Denise Lodge with the memo, “head variety 7.” In November 2020, Taylor allegedly despatched $200 with a memo examining, “braiiiiiins.”
Both equally Maclean and Taylor are accused of accepting approximately $50,000 in PayPal payments in 2021 and 2022 from the very same guy in Pennsylvania for the stolen human remains, the indictment explained.
Harvard University officers claimed Wednesday that they are “appalled to master that some thing so disturbing could take place on (their) campus — a group dedicated to therapeutic and serving some others.”
“The reported incidents are a betrayal of HMS and, most importantly, each of the folks who altruistically selected to will their bodies to HMS as a result of the Anatomical Gift Software to progress healthcare schooling and investigation,” Harvard Clinical University deans George Daley and Edward Hundert wrote in a letter to the community.
“We are so pretty sorry for the soreness this news will lead to for our anatomical donors’ people and liked kinds, and HMS pledges to have interaction with them in the course of this deeply distressing time.”
The professional medical faculty stated it is performing with federal authorities to take a look at data to ascertain which donated bodies were being impacted.
The US attorney’s place of work will continue on to work to recognize the victims and contact their households, in accordance to the university.
Harvard has also appointed an external panel to assess their anatomical donor system and their morgue guidelines “with the purpose of delivering constructive suggestions and suggestions to increase security for the method and for the generous total-body donations it receives,” the letter stated.
