Human Remains Trafficking Victim Lawsuit Targets Harvard University

BOSTON — A class action lawsuit was filed against Harvard University on Friday on behalf of families whose deceased loved ones might have been dissected and sold as part of a grotesque multi-state human remains trafficking ring involving the Harvard Medical School's morgue.

Keches Law Group said it filed the suit because "Harvard owed a duty of care to the families who entrusted the school with custody of their loved one's donated bodies."

Six people were indicted on Wednesday on conspiracy and interstate transport of stolen goods charges as part of the black market network that court documents claim involved former morgue manager Cedric Lodge, 55, and his wife, Denise Lodge, 63, both of Goffstown, N.H. selling parts of bodies donated to the university for scientific research.

(Also on Patch: Salem Owner Of 'Creepy' Peabody Shop Charged In Body Parts Trafficking)

Also indicted was Katrina Maclean, 44, of Salem, Joshua Taylor, 46, of West Lawn, Pennsylvania, and Mathew Lampi, 52, of East Bethel, Minnesota, the FBI announced Wednesday. Additionally, Jeremy Pauley, 41, of Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, was charged with criminal information, and Candace Chapman Scott of Little Rock, Arkansas, was previously indicted in the Eastern District of Arkansas, according to officials.

"Medical schools like Harvard have a duty to ensure (donated remains) are handled properly and with decency and to ensure they are used for their intended purpose of scientific study," Keches Law Group Partner Jeff Catalano said in a statement Friday. "When there's a breach of that duty, the way the family can be compensated for that is through an emotional distress claim."

According to the indictment, MacLean, whose Kat's Creepy Creations shop in Peabody and Salem home were the subject of an FBI raid in March, bought remains from Lodge before reselling them to people in multiple states, including Massachusetts.

Taylor is accused of paying Denise Lodge more than $37,000 between 2018 and 2021 via PayPal, the indictment said.

"At times, Cedric Lodge used his access to the morgue to allow Katrina MacLean, Joshua Taylor and others to enter the morgue and choose what remains to purchase," the indictment said.

The indictment accuses Cedric Lodge of stealing portions of the donated cadavers, including heads, brains, skin, and bones, and taking the body parts to his Goffstown home. His wife, Denise, would sell them and package them to be sent across the United States.

According to court paperwork, many of the parts were shipped using US Mail.

Keches Law Group said that Massachusetts law allows for recovery of emotional damages when close family members traumatized by the death of a loved one experience serious mental anguish caused by harm to the decedent's remains resulting from a breach of that duty.

Catalano said that when someone suffers the trauma of losing a loved one "sometimes the only thing they can latch onto, is that their loved ones' remains are going to be used for an important scientific purpose."

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)