Ex-Harvard Morgue Manager to Plead Guilty in Body Parts Scandal

A former manager of Harvard Medical School’s morgue, Cedric Lodge, has agreed to plead guilty to charges stemming from a shocking scheme involving the theft and sale of human body parts meant for scientific research.

Lodge, 57, of Goffstown, New Hampshire, was indicted in June 2023 and accused of stealing heads, brains, skin, and bones from donated cadavers between 2018 and 2023. Prosecutors say he operated as part of a “nationwide network,” with body parts sold to buyers in states like Pennsylvania and Massachusetts—sometimes shipped through the U.S. Postal Service. One buyer reportedly planned to tan the human skin into leather.

Lodge worked at Harvard for nearly 28 years before being fired in May 2023. He is expected to plead guilty to a federal charge of transporting stolen goods across state lines, which carries up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. A hearing has yet to be scheduled. Other charges, including conspiracy, are set to be dropped under the plea deal filed April 16 in a Pennsylvania federal court.

His wife, Denise Lodge, 64, previously pleaded guilty in April 2023 to aiding and abetting the transport of stolen goods. She was accused of helping ship the human remains and receiving payments, including a $1,000 PayPal transaction labeled “head number 7” and another that read “braiiiiiins.”

Prosecutors also revealed that Cedric Lodge occasionally allowed buyers into Harvard’s morgue to select remains, which were intended solely for educational and medical purposes through the school’s Anatomical Gifts Program.

Four others were indicted in the case, including Katrina Maclean, owner of a macabre novelty shop in Massachusetts, who allegedly commissioned human skin to be turned into leather, and Joshua Taylor, a Pennsylvania man tied to online transactions with the Lodges.

The case has left families who donated loved ones’ remains devastated. “We were just disgusted,” said Paula Peltonovich, whose father’s body was donated to the school. Another donor relative, Sarah Hill, said she felt physically ill upon learning about the betrayal.

Investigations are ongoing, and the case continues to draw national outrage.