US court sentences ex-Harvard morgue manager in human remains trafficking case
A former manager of the Harvard Medical School morgue has been sentenced to eight years in prison for stealing and selling human remains taken from donated cadavers, Qazinform News Agency reports.
The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania said Cedric Lodge, 58, and his wife Denise Lodge, 65, both of Goffstown, New Hampshire, were sentenced on December 16 by Chief US District Judge Matthew W. Brann for interstate transportation of stolen human remains.
Cedric Lodge received a 96-month prison term, while Denise Lodge was sentenced to 12 months and one day in prison. The couple was convicted in connection with a scheme involving body parts taken from the Harvard Medical School morgue in Boston.
According to US Attorney Brian D. Miller, from 2018 through at least March 2020, Lodge removed human remains from donated bodies after they had been used for research and teaching but before they were disposed of under anatomical gift agreements. Prosecutors said the remains included “organs, brains, skin, hands, faces, dissected heads, and other parts,” which Lodge transported to his home in New Hampshire without the knowledge or consent of the donors, their families, or his employer.
After selling the remains, the Lodges either shipped them to buyers in other states or allowed buyers to collect and transport them directly, authorities said, adding that the items were moved between Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Pennsylvania.
“The trafficking of stolen human remains through the US Mail is a disturbing act that victimizes already grieving families while also creating a potentially hazardous situation for Postal employees and customers,” said Christopher Nielsen, Inspector in Charge of the Philadelphia Division of the Postal Inspection Service. “I hope our efforts, and these sentencings, bring some amount of closure to those affected by this terrible crime.”
Federal officials said the case is part of a broader investigation involving multiple defendants across several states.
“Today’s sentencing is another step forward in ensuring those who orchestrated and executed this heinous crime are brought to justice,” said Wayne A. Jacobs, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Philadelphia Field Office, noting cooperation between federal and local law enforcement agencies in the case.
Earlier, Qazinform News Agency reported that Italy formally introduced femicide as an independent crime in its national criminal code, providing for a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.
