A former manager of the Harvard Medical School morgue has been sentenced to eight years in federal prison for orchestrating a macabre scheme to steal and sell human body parts. Cedric Lodge, 58, treated donated cadavers "as if they were baubles," according to prosecutors, shipping stolen brains, skin, hands, and faces to buyers across multiple states.
The Grisly Details of the Operation
Between 2018 and March 2020, Lodge, who had managed the morgue for 28 years, illicitly removed organs, brains, skin, hands, faces, and dissected heads from cadavers donated to Harvard's Anatomical Gift Program. These remains, intended for medical research and education, were supposed to be cremated or returned to families after use.
Instead, Lodge and his wife, Denise Lodge, 65, who was sentenced to just over a year in prison for her role, sold them for profit. The couple used websites like Facebook to find buyers, some of whom collected the remains in person. Payments, often with chilling descriptions like "head number 7," were processed through a PayPal account registered to Denise.
Assistant US Attorney Alisan Martin described a "deeply horrifying reality," where skin was sold to be tanned into leather for a book, and a man's face was sold, potentially "to be kept on a shelf." In total, the illicit enterprise is believed to have netted the couple between $40,000 and $95,000.
Unravelling the Network and the Fallout
The scheme collapsed following an investigation triggered by Jeremy Pauley in Pennsylvania, whose estranged wife alerted police to his collection of human remains. A subsequent federal probe uncovered Lodge's central role and a wider network. At least six others, including an Arkansas crematorium employee, have pleaded guilty in related cases.
The scandal has caused profound anguish for donor families. One daughter wrote in a sentencing document of the "real anxiety and pain" caused by wondering if her father's head or tattooed skin had been sold. Harvard suspended its body donation programme for five months in 2023 and notified nearly 400 donor families.
While a Massachusetts judge dismissed lawsuits against Harvard, citing the university's good faith, the institution called Lodge's actions "abhorrent" and expressed "deep sorrow" for impacted families.
Sentencing and Aftermath
In court, Lodge's defence acknowledged his "egregious" conduct and the harm inflicted. Following the sentencing, Harvard Medical School reaffirmed its commitment to the "selfless commitment" of anatomical donors, stating that while the criminal case concludes, "the process of healing from the pain he caused continues."
The case exposes a disturbing black market for human remains and represents a profound betrayal of trust, leaving a legacy of trauma for those who donated their bodies for science.
