Ex-Harvard morgue manager sentenced to 8 years for stealing, selling body parts donated for research

A former morgue manager at the Harvard Medical School has been sentenced to eight years in prison for stealing and selling body parts that had been donated for research purposes. The US Justice Department said in a statement that Cedric Lodge, 58 years old, had pleaded guilty for trafficking the stolen remains. His wife, Denise Lodge, was also sentenced to one year in prison after admitting to participating in the sale of stolen human remains.

The organs that he stole and sold included internal organs, brains, skin, hands, faces and dissected heads. He had stolen body parts from the Harvard Medical School from 2018 through at least March 2020. He was fired from the university in May 2023, Harvard has said.

Cedric Lodge and his wife Denise stole body parts from the medical school and took them to Goffstown in New Hampshire. They had also taken those to locations in Massachusetts and Pennsylvania, “without the knowledge or permission of his employer, the donor, or the donor's family”. They then shipped the body parts to other states.

“Today's sentencing is another step forward in ensuring those who orchestrated and executed this heinous crime are brought to justice,” said Wayne A. Jacobs, special agent in charge of the FBI's Philadelphia field office.

The Justice Department said many of the human remains sold by Lodge were subsequently resold at a profit. Several of those buyers have been sentenced to jail time or were awaiting sentencing, the statement said.

The prosecutors had demanded 10 years of sentencing for the accused. They said the conduct was “for the amusement of the disturbing 'oddities' community.”

“He caused deep emotional harm to an untold number of family members left to wonder about the mistreatment of their loved ones’ bodies,” they said.

The lawyer representing the Lodges had urged the judge to avoid such a “severe” sentence. He, however, also acknowledged “the harm his actions have inflicted on both the deceased persons whose bodies he callously degraded and their grieving families.”

How did Harvard react?

Harvard Medical School in a statement called Lodge's actions "abhorrent and inconsistent with the standards and values that Harvard, our anatomical donors, and their loved ones expect and deserve."

It added that it had "deep sorrow for the families of donors who may have been impacted." Massachusetts' highest court in October allowed several families to pursue lawsuits against Harvard alleging it mishandled the bodies of their loved ones.

(With agency inputs)