BOSTON — A man who formerly worked as the morgue manager at Harvard Medical School pled guilty Wednesday to charges of trafficking stolen human remains, the United States Department of Justice announced.
Cedric Lodge, 57, of Goffstown, New Hampshire, admitted that he participated in the sale and interstate transport of human remains stolen from university’s morgue in Boston from 2018 through at least March 2020, according to Acting United States Attorney John Gurganus.
Federal prosecutors say Lodge removed organs, brains, skin, hands, faces, dissected heads, and other body parts, from donated cadavers after they had been used for research and teaching purposes but before they could be disposed of according to the anatomical gift donation agreement between the donor and the school.
Lodge took the remains without the knowledge or permission of his employer, the donor, or the donor’s family, and transported the remains to his home in New Hampshire, where he and his wife, Denise Lodge, sold the remains, according to prosecutors.
Katrina Maclean, owner of Kat’s Creepy Creations in Peabody, sold some the stolen body parts at her business, court documents allege.
0 of 21
Gurganus said Lodge admitted to having sold remains to Joshua Taylor and Andrew Ensanian, among others. Investigators noted that many of the remains purchased from Lodge were resold for a profit.
“At times, Cedric Lodge allowed Maclean and Taylor to enter the morgue at Harvard Medical School and examine cadavers to choose what to purchase,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. “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.”
Several other people connected to the Harvard body parts case have previously entered guilty pleas in related cases, including Lodge’s wife, as well as Taylor and Ensanian.
Harvard University officials decried the allegations after news of this case broke.
“We are appalled to learn that something so disturbing could happen on our campus — a community dedicated to healing and serving others,” George Daley, Dean of Faculty of Medicine at Harvard University, and Edward Hundert, Dean for Medical Education at Harvard Medical School, said in a joint statement.
Lodge faces a maximum penalty under federal law of 10 years of imprisonment, a term of supervised release following imprisonment, and a fine.
Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts.
Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW
©2025 Cox Media Group
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/7QOJU3BNCJERBNKJC5LWTBYFLU.png)
