Ex-Harvard Morgue Manager Jailed 8 Years For Selling Body Parts

A former morgue manager at Harvard Medical School, Cedric Lodge, has been sentenced to eight years in prison for stealing and selling human body parts donated for scientific research, the United States Department of Justice announced on Tuesday.

According to the AFP, 58-year-old Lodge pleaded guilty in May to trafficking in stolen human remains between 2018 and at least March 2020. The items taken included internal organs, brains, skin, hands, faces and dissected heads.

Harvard University said Lodge was dismissed from his position in May 2023 following the discovery of the scheme.

According to investigators, the convict, alongside his wife, Denise, removed body parts from the medical school in the Boston area and transported them to their residence in Goffstown, New Hampshire, as well as to other locations in Massachusetts and Pennsylvania.

The removals were carried out without the consent or knowledge of Harvard, the donors, or the donors’ families. The stolen remains were later shipped to buyers across several states across the United States.

Justice Department disclosed however disclosed that 65-year-old Denise Lodge was sentenced to one year in prison.

Reacting to the sentencing, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Philadelphia field office, Wayne Jacobs, described the crime as “heinous,” noting that the ruling marked “another step forward in ensuring those who orchestrated and executed this heinous crime are brought to justice.”

The Justice Department further revealed that many of the human remains sold by Lodge were later resold at a profit.

Several individuals who purchased the body parts have either been sentenced to prison or are awaiting sentencing.