News of charges against a former Harvard staff member is quickly gaining both steam and surprise online after he was accused of stealing, selling, and shipping body parts from the Ivy League medical school’s morgue.
A federal indictment out of Pennsylvania alleges that 55-year-old Cedric Lodge, the former Harvard Medical School morgue manager, conspired with his wife, 63-year-old Denise Lodge, to steal and sell numerous body parts over a five-year period.
The indictment states that from 2018 to March 2023, Lodge “stole dissected portions of donated cadavers, including…heads, brains, skin, bones, and other human remains, without the knowledge or permission of (the school) and removed those remains from the morgue in Massachusetts and transported them to his residence in New Hampshire.”
Lodge is accused of selling those parts to 44-year-old Katrina Maclean, 46-year-old Joshua Taylor, and others inside and outside Massachusetts state lines. Lodge, his wife, as well as Maclean and Taylor were all charged with conspiracy and transporting stolen goods across state lines.
In a news release, federal prosecutors revealed that this trafficking scheme supported a nationwide network of individuals who bought and sold human remains from Harvard Medical School and an Arkansas mortuary. The remains that Lodge stole came from donations to the school for medical research and education. After they’re used for those purposes, they are supposed to be cremated or returned to the donor’s family to be buried.
However, on some occasions, Lodge stole and transported those remains from Boston and transported them to his home in New Hampshire, according to the indictment. That’s where he and his wife made arrangements through cellphone correspondence and social media to sell off the remains to Maclean, Taylor, and others. On some occasions, they shipped those remains to Taylor and others out of the state, prosecutors allege.
Maclean also…
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