"Heinous crime": Berks County man among 6 charged with buying, selling stolen human remains
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – A Berks County man is among six people charged with trafficking stolen human remains and selling them online.
Joshua Taylor, 46, of West Lawn, has been indicted by a federal grand jury on conspiracy and interstate transport of stolen goods, the United States Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced Wednesday.
The indictment alleges that Taylor was part of a nationwide network of individuals who bought and sold human remains that were stolen from Harvard Medical School and an Arkansas Mortuary, according to United States Attorney Gerard M. Karam.
According to the criminal complaint, the object of the conspiracy was "to profit from the interstate shipment, purchase, and sale of stolen human remains."
The charges allege that Cedric Lodge, 55, of Goffstown, New Hampshire, managed a morgue for the Anatomical Gifts Program at Harvard Medical Schools in Boston, Massachusetts. From 2018 to 2022, Lodge allegedly stole "heads, brains, skin, bones, and other human remains" of cadavers that were donated for medical research and education, without the knowledge or permission of HMS. The indictment also alleged that Lodge would transport the stolen remains from Boston to his residence in Goffstown, where he and his wife, Denise Lodge, would make arrangements to sell the remains to Taylor, as well as others, and "sometimes shipped those remains through the United States Postal Service to Pennsylvania and elsewhere."
"Robbing families of the remains of their loved ones is an unconscionable act and confounds our collective sense of decency. Using the United States mail to facilitate the theft and shipment of human remains is a federal crime and the Postal Inspection Service will do everything in its power to stop it," said Christopher Nielsen, the Inspector in Charge of the Philadelphia Division of the Postal Inspection Service.
Lodge would also allegedly allow Taylor, as well as 44-year-old Katrina Maclean, of Salem, Massachusetts, to come into the morgue at Harvard to examine the cadavers and choose what they wanted to buy.
Taylor would also sometimes allegedly bring the stolen remains back to Pennsylvania to be resold for a profit, prosecutors said.
MacLean owns a store in Peabody called "Kat's Creepy Creations," according to our sister station WBZ. Back in March, the FBI searched the store and MacLean's home.
In one instance, investigators claimed MacLean shipped human skin to Jeremy Pauley, of Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, in mid-2021 and "engaged his services to tan the skin to create leather."
Taylor allegedly sent more than $37,000 to Denise Lodge to pay for body parts stolen from the morgue by her husband, according to the criminal complaint.
"On November 20, 2020, Taylor sent Denise Lodge $200 with a memo that read, "braiiiiiins," the complaint said.
Harvard Medical School called the accusations "morally reprehensible."
"Some crimes defy understanding," said United States Attorney 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.
Both Lodges, Maclean, and Mathew Lampi, of East Bethel, Minnesota, have also been indicted.
Candace Chapman Scott, of Little Rock, Arkansas, was also previously indicted in the Eastern District of Arkansas. Pauley has also been charged with Criminal Information.
"While today's charges cannot undo the unfathomable pain this heinous crime has caused, the FBI will continue to work tirelessly to see that justice is served," said FBI Special Agent in Charge Jacqueline Maguire.
Those charged face a maximum sentence of 15 years in federal prison, as well as a fine.
The U.S. State's Attorney's Office said they are continuing work to identify the victims and contact families affected in this case.
If anyone believes they or a family member may have been affected by the conduct charged in these indictments and information, please contact our Victim and Witness Unit at USAPAM.Victim.Information@usdoj.gov or (717) 614-4249.
