Courts & Corrections

Goffstown Couple Accused of Turning Harvard Morgue Into Ghoulish Business

By DAMIEN FISHER, InDepthNH.org (InDepthNH.org) | June 14, 2023

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Harvard Medical School

By DAMIEN FISHER, InDepthNH.org

Human heads, faces, skin, bones, brains and various organs stolen from cadavers donated to the Harvard Medical School were sold online through a criminal ring of macabre entrepreneurs that allegedly includes the now former manager of the Harvard morgue.

Goffstown’s Cedric Lodge, 55, and his wife, Denise Lodge, 63, were arraigned Wednesday in the United States District Court in Concord on federal charges including conspiracy and interstate transportation of stolen goods along with four other people known to be part of the body part underworld.

Harvard Medical School accepts donations of human remains for teaching purposes, and under the donation agreement, the remains are typically cremated or buried following their service. Cedric Lodge allegedly stole parts from the morgue for Pennsylvania man Joshua Taylor, 46, and Salem, Massachusetts artist Katrina Maclean, 44.

Cedric and Denise Lodge would bring the parts home and keep them for their buyers, according to court records. Cedric Lodge additionally allowed Taylor and Maclean and others to come into the Harvard morgue and pick out body parts for purchase and resale, according to the indictments.

Taylor and Maclean trafficked the parts to buyers across the country using Facebook and other social media apps, the charges state. Maclean also ran a store in Peabody, Kat’s Creepy Creations, which she used to traffic in the stolen parts, according to the indictments.

Others who were part of the cadaver-stealing circle include Pennsylvania man Jeremy Pauley, 41, an employee of a cremation business, Candace Chapman Scott, 36, an Arkansas mortuary employee who was allegedly able to steal donated bodies for the University of Arkansas Medical School, and Matthew Lampi, 52, of East Bethel, Minnesota, a frequent buyer and seller of body parts, according to court records.

“Some crimes defy understanding,” said United States Attorney for the Middle District of Pennsylvania 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. With these charges, we are seeking to secure some measure of justice for all these victims.”

https://indepthnh.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/morgue-indictment.pdf

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