In a shocking turn of events, Cedric Lodge, a 55-year-old manager of the Harvard Medical School morgue, has been indicted on charges of allegedly selling body parts from donated human corpses.
These unsettling activities unfolded without the knowledge or consent of the university. Here is more you need to know about the incident.
Who is Cedric Lodge Harvard Medical School manager charged with illegal sale of dead human body parts
The unlawful activities of Cedric Lodge at Harvard Medical School
The federal indictment suggests that Lodge, in his capacity as morgue manager, pilfered dissected parts from donated corpses, including heads, brains, bones, skin, and other human remains.
Cedric Lodge being swarmed by reporters as he leaves Federal Court in Concord #wmur Cedric was the Morgue manager at Harvard Medical School pic.twitter.com/reFnAJWnyR
— Ryan Murphy #95Photog (@95Photog) June 14, 2023
He then smuggled these stolen remains out of the Boston morgue and transported them to his residence in Goffstown, New Hampshire. From there, Lodge illicitly sold the body parts online. The indictment was filed on Tuesday, June 13, in the US District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania.
Involvement of additional suspects in Cedric Lodge case
In the wake of the indictment, Lodge’s wife, Denise, and two alleged buyers – Joshua Taylor, 46, from West Lawn, and Katrina MacLean, 44, from Salem – were also charged. Both Lodge and his wife were seen in the federal court of Concord, New Hampshire, on Wednesday afternoon, where they remained silent.
Apart from these individuals, Jeremy Pauley, 41, from Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, Mathew Lampi, 52, from East Bethel, Minnesota, and Candace Chapman Scott from Little Rock, Arkansas, were also implicated in the investigation. Scott, in a separate case, was indicted for stealing and selling human body parts from a crematorium and mortuary.
MacLean’s grisly purchases and the fallout
Katrina MacLean, owner of “Kat’s Creepy Creations” in Peabody, Massachusetts, is alleged to have transported stolen goods across state lines. After a brief appearance in Boston’s federal court, she was released on the grounds of this being a non-violent offense, although she will be required to report to a court in Pennsylvania. In March, the FBI had searched MacLean’s store and residence following tips about possible storage of human remains.
According to the prosecution, MacLean, Taylor, and the Cedric Lodge had been transporting stolen human remains from Harvard Medical School’s morgue to Pennsylvania and New Hampshire since 2018. In one documented incident, MacLean reportedly purchased two dissected faces from Lodge for $600 in October 2020. Investigators also found that she had sent human skin to Pauley in Pennsylvania in 2021, requesting his services to tan the skin into leather.
Cedric Lodge’s grim profit in the case
In this ghastly trade of human remains, Lodge profited handsomely. As per the criminal complaint, Taylor had sent Denise Lodge more than $37,000 in payment for the stolen body parts. Harvard Medical School has condemned Cedric Lodge’s actions, deeming them as “morally reprehensible.”
Deans George Daley and Edward Hundert expressed their profound shock and stated the reported incidents were a grave betrayal of the school and the trust placed in them by individuals who chose to donate their bodies for medical research and education. The academic community now eagerly awaits the outcome of this grim saga.
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