Authorities said that Candace Chapman Scott stole human remains and sold these to Jeremy Pauley, pictured here. (Mugshot: Cumberland County District Attorney’s Office)
A Pennsylvania man has admitted in court to his role in a sprawling, alleged network in which people trafficked stolen human remains.
Jeremy Pauley, 41, pleaded guilty on Thursday to conspiracy and interstate transportation of stolen property, the U.S. Department of Justice announced.
As previously reported, federal authorities and prosecutors Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, said Pauley both purchased and sold stolen cadaver parts.
He first popped up as the alleged customer of Candace Chapman Scott. Scott, whose federal criminal case is ongoing, allegedly stole from the mortuary and crematorium where she worked in Little Rock, Arkansas. Many of the remains had been donated for medical research and education at a local medical school, authorities said.
Remains included two stillborn babies; they were supposed to be cremated and returned to the families, authorities said.
Pauley sold many of the stolen body parts he purchased, authorities said. One of his customers was allegedly Minnesota man Mathew Lampi, 52.
“Lampi and Pauley bought and sold from each other over an extended period and exchanged over $100,000 in online payments,” federal authorities said.
The case reached another level of scope when it turned out that the alleged network included Cedric Lodge, 55, then-manager of the morgue for Harvard Medical School’s Anatomical Gifts Program in Boston, Massachusetts.
As in Scott’s case, the Harvard remains were supposed to be used for research. And as in Scott’s case, the remains were supposed to have been cremated. But Lodge allegedly stole the remains, and had the help of his wife, Denise Lodge, 63, in selling remains to Massachusetts woman Katrina Maclean, 44, Pennsylvania man Joshua Taylor, 46, and others.
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“Lodge at times allegedly transported stolen remains from Boston to his residence in Goffstown, New Hampshire, where he and his wife, Denise Lodge, sold the remains to Katrina Maclean, Joshua Taylor, and others, making arrangements via cellular telephone and social media websites,” authorities wrote. “At times, Cedric Lodge allegedly allowed Maclean and Taylor to enter the morgue at Harvard Medical School and examine cadavers to choose what to purchase. On some occasions, Taylor transported stolen remains back to Pennsylvania. On other occasions, the Lodges shipped stolen remains to Taylor and others out of state.”
Maclean and Taylor allegedly sold stolen remains for profit, and Pauley was one of their customers, according to federal authorities.
Authorities have also said that they found another defendant, James Nott, because of his alleged online communication with Pauley.
Investigators arrived at Nott’s home in Kentucky to discover that he used skulls to decorate his home. Law enforcement also claimed to find body parts including spinal cords, femurs, and hip bones in the residence.
As part of his guilty plea, Pauley confessed to his role in the nationwide network, authorities said. He admitted he bought remains from multiple people and knew they were stolen. Pauley also sold many of those remains to others, and that at least one of them knew those had been stolen, investigators said.
Online records did not give a date for Pauley’s sentencing.
From the DOJ:
The United States Attorney’s Office has and will continue to attempt to identify and contact as many of the victims and victims’ families affected by this case as possible. If anyone believes they or a family member may have been affected by the conduct described above, please contact our Victim and Witness Unit at [email protected] or (717) 614-4249.
More Law&Crime coverage: Colorado woman who operated funeral home for people with ‘no resources’ pleads guilty to ‘harvesting and marketing’ human body parts
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