A former manager at the Harvard Medical School morgue has pleaded guilty to stealing dissected human heads, brains, skin, hands, faces, organs – and selling them on the black market.
Cedric Lodge, 57, admitted on May 21 in a federal court in Pennsylvania to interstate transport of stolen human remains taken from cadavers donated to Harvard for medical research and education.
From 2018 through at least March 2020, Lodge exploited his access to the morgue to remove body parts from cadavers that had already been used for academic purposes but had not yet been cremated, buried, or returned per the donor agreements. These remains, donated altruistically to the Harvard Anatomical Gift Programme, were taken without the knowledge or permission of Harvard, the donors, or their families.
According to prosecutors, Lodge would transport the stolen remains from the morgue in Boston to his home in Goffstown, New Hampshire. He and his wife, Denise Lodge, then sold the body parts to buyers across state lines, sometimes shipping them directly and at other times allowing the buyers to pick them up in person. The trafficking network stretched across Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Pennsylvania.
One man in Pennsylvania paid Denise Lodge $37,355.16 (nearly Rs 32 lakh) over three years, according to the federal indictment obtained by People Magazine. Payments were made via PayPal and had memos such as “head number 7” and “braiiiiiiins.”
The indictment also says that Lodge supplied a woman in Massachusetts with human skin, knowing she intended to have it tanned. On at least one occasion, he met her at the morgue and provided “two dissected faces.”
“We are appalled to learn that something so disturbing could happen on our campus, a community dedicated to healing and serving others,” said George Daley, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, and Edward Hundert, Dean for Medical Education, in a joint statement last year.
Cedric Lodge now faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison, a period of supervised release, and a fine. Sentencing will be determined by Chief US District Judge Matthew W Brann based on federal statutes and guidelines.
Lodge’s wife, Denise Lodge, pleaded guilty last year and is waiting for her sentence.
Several others have also been charged or pleaded guilty in the case. Lodge admitted to selling human remains to Joshua Taylor and Andrew Ensanian. Some buyers, like Jeremy Pauley, later sold the remains to others for profit.
Joshua Taylor also pleaded guilty and is yet to be sentenced. Andrew Ensanian admitted guilt. Matthew Lampi was given 15 months in prison, and Angelo Pereyra was sentenced to 18 months. Another accused, Katrina MacLean, who is said to have bought remains from Lodge, has denied the charges and has not yet entered a plea.