BOSTON (WWLP) – The manager of Harvard Medical School’s morgue, his wife, and multiple others have been indicted for allegedly trafficking stolen human remains.
Cedric Lodge, 55, stole organs and other parts of cadavers donated for medical research and education before their scheduled cremations from the morgue between 2018 and 2022, federal prosecutors in Pennsylvania have alleged. The body parts were taken without the school’s knowledge or permission, authorities said, adding that the school has cooperated with the investigation.
Bodies donated to Harvard Medical School are used for education, teaching or research purposes. Once they are no longer needed, the cadavers are usually cremated and the ashes are returned to the donor’s family or buried in a cemetery.
Lodge would sometimes take stolen remains — which included heads, brains, skin and bones — to his Goffstown, New Hampshire home where he and his wife, 63-year-old Denise Lodge, would then sell the remains to buyers in other states, prosecutors said. Some remains were sent through the mail, while other buyers were allegedly allowed to visit the morgue to select remains for purchase.
Three others have also been charged by federal prosecutors: 44-year-old Katrina Maclean of Salem, Massachusetts; 46-year-old Joshua Taylor of West Lawn, Pennsylvania; and 52-year-old Mathew Lampi of East Bethel, Minnesota.
All five have been charged with conspiracy and interstate transport of stolen goods. According to prosecutors, the defendants were part of a nationwide network of people who bought and sold remains stolen from the school and an Arkansas mortuary.
The Lodges allegedly sold remains to Maclean, Taylor, and others in arrangements made through telephone calls and social media websites. Maclean and Taylor were also allowed to enter the morgue and examine cadavers to choose what to purchase.
Taylor would on occasion transport stolen remains back to Pennsylvania, prosecutors say. The Lodges also allegedly shipped stolen remains to Taylor and others out of state. Maclean and Taylor would then resell the stolen remains for profit, including to 41-year-old Jeremy Pauley of Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania.
Pauley has been accused of purchasing stolen human remains from Candace Chapman Scott who allegedly stole remains from her employer, a Little Rock, Arkansas mortuary and crematorium. Scott stole parts of cadavers as well as the corpses of two stillborn babies, federal authorities say.
The remains Pauley purchased were sold to other individuals, including Matthew Lampi, according to officials. During an extended period of time, Lampi and Pauly exchanged over $100,000 in online payments.
Pauley and Scott have both pleaded not guilty, authorities said.
Denise and Cedric Lodge both made their initial court appearances Wednesday in federal court in Concord, New Hampshire, and were each released on personal recognizance bail. They declined comment as they left the courthouse.
In a message posted on the school’s website entitled “An abhorrent betrayal,” deans George Daley and Edward Hundert called the matter “morally reprehensible.” They said Lodge was fired May 6.
“Some crimes defy understanding,” said United States Attorney Gerard M. Karam. “The theft and trafficking of human remains strikes at the very essence of what makes us human. It is particularly egregious that so many of the victims here volunteered to allow their remains to be used to educate medical professionals and advance the interests of science and healing. For them and their families to be taken advantage of in the name of profit is appalling.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
