By Milt Harris ——Bio and Archives--June 16, 2023
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Harvard is the oldest university in the United States. It was founded in 1636, before the country was even founded. Among the Ivy League schools, Harvard is considered the best. Over it’s 400-year history, the school has been associated with hundreds of Rhodes Scholars, Marshall Scholars, and Nobel Laureates. It also has graduated more billionaires than any other school with 188.
As grand as all of that is, a scandal that’s taking place right now will be hard for Harvard to live down. Several people, including the manager of the medical schools morgue, Cedric Lodge, are facing federal charges for their involvement in the stealing, selling, and transporting of human body parts. The crimes which took place between 2018-2022 were accomplished with bodies that were donated to the school. In addition to Lodge, his wife Denise Lodge, Katrina Maclean and Joshua Taylor were also named as defendants.
In the indictment it stated that:
“CEDRIC LODGE was employed as Morgue Manager at Harvard Medical School and, as such, had access to the morgue and the donated cadavers stored in the morgue. At times, CEDRIC LODGE stole dissected portions of donated cadavers without the knowledge or permission of HMS, and removed those remains from the morgue in Massachusetts.”
In the court documents it listed “heads, brains, skin, bones, and other human remains” that were scheduled for cremation, but instead were taken by Lodge to his home in Goffstown, New Hampshire. The Lodges, working as a team, used their phones, social media and even the mail to sell and transport the remains. In some cases they sold body parts in Pennsylvania and Massachusetts. One case involved Maclean who agreed to purchase two dissected faces for $600.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania issued a news release stating that in addition to the four defendants, two other individuals were also charged with trafficking in stolen human remains.
United States Attorney Gerard Karam stated that the indictments “allege that a nationwide network of individuals bought and sold human remains stolen from Harvard Medical School and an Arkansas mortuary.”
Identified in the release are Candace Chapman Scott, of Little Rock, Arkansas, who had previously been indicted in the Eastern District of Arkansas, and Mathew Lampi, 52, of East Bethel, Minnesota. It also detailed how Lodges sold remains to Tayor and Maclean and how he allowed the two of them to enter Harvard property.
“At times, Cedric Lodge 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.”
In an especially morbid scenario, Scott is alleged to have stolen remains from the mortuary and crematorium in Little Rock where she was employed. Including the corpses of two stillborn infants that were to be cremated and returned to their families.
“Some crimes defy understanding,” United States Attorney Gerard M. Karam said in a statement. “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.”
This past March, Maclean’s home and business were both searched by authorities. Her business called “Kat’s Creepy Creations” is described on Instagram as a place full of “creepy dolls, oddities and bone art.” In the indictment, it states that the business was where Maclean stored and sold the stolen body parts. She also displayed vertebrae and skulls on her social media pages. When one person asked, “My question is where do you get a human skull?” Maclean responded that it was a “Discarded specimen from a medical school.”
Additional court paperwork alleges that Maclean also shipped human skin to Jeremy Pauley of Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, where Pauley intended to “tan the skin to create leather.”
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Pauley, who describes himself as a “collector of oddities,” stated that after tanning the skin, he would then trade the leather with Maclean for payment. He also sold many of the remains to Lampi as well as others.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in a release stated that, “Lampi and Pauley bought and sold from each other over an extended period of time and exchanged over $100,000 in online payments.”
For its part, Harvard University’s Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, George Daley addressed the situation stating, “a former Harvard Medical School employee” was accused of activities that were “morally reprehensible.”
Daley then detailed how Cedric Lodge was terminated on May 6, 2023. He then described how the university was working to determine which donors were affected by the abhorrent betrayal.
“We are appalled to learn that something so disturbing could happen on our campus, a community dedicated to healing and serving others. The reported incidents are a betrayal of HMS and, most importantly, each of the individuals who altruistically chose to will their bodies to HMS through the Anatomical Gift Program to advance medical education and research. We are so very sorry for the pain this news will cause for our anatomical donors’ families and loved ones, and HMS pledges to engage with them during this deeply distressing time.”
I have written several articles over the past six months or so about the leftist hiring policies in place at Harvard and the lawsuits that have ensued. Although this seems like an unrelated ordeal, Harvard’s discriminatory and holier than thou attitude has surely permeated all areas of its staff and procedures.
Lodge was obviously conducting his malfeasance under a false sense of entitlement. Now the families that donated their loved ones bodies have paid the ultimate price for trying to do the right thing.
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Milt spent thirty years as a sales and operations manager for an international manufacturing company. He is also a four-time published author on a variety of subjects. Now, he spends most of his time researching and writing about conservative politics and liberal folly.