By: Grace Gao

Five people have been charged with stealing and selling donated human cadaver parts from the Harvard Medical School morgue. Among the five are former HMS manager Cedric Lodge and his wife. The scheme appears to have run from 2018 to early 2023 without the school’s knowledge.

Authorities say that Lodge took the body parts to his home and allegedly allowed potential buyers into the morgue to choose which remains they wanted.

Supposed conspirators include Katrina MacLean, 44, of Peabody, MA; Joshua Taylor, 46, of West Lawn, PA; and Matthew Lampi, 52, of East Bethel, MN. Katrina McLean owns the store Kat’s Creepy Creations and has recently been charged with selling cadaver parts after a thorough FBI search (CBS News Boston).

In a press release, U.S. Attorney Gerard M. Karam said, “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” (Burky).