Jeremy Pauley was accused of turning human skin into leather, as well as purchasing the remains of a stillborn baby.
A Pennsylvania man has pleaded guilty following federal charges linking him to a trafficking ring specializing in the buying and selling of human remains.
41-year-old Jeremy Pauley appeared before U.S. District Court Judge Matthew W. Brann last week and pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy and interstate transportation of stolen property; he faces up to 15 years behind bars but has yet to be sentenced.
Per United States Attorney Gerard M. Karam, Pauley “admitted to his role in a nationwide network of individuals who bought and sold human remains stolen from Harvard Medical School and an Arkansas mortuary.” He also reportedly admitted to purchasing and selling remains he knew were stolen.
Pauley is one of six indicted as part of the same investigation.
Six Charged In Trafficking Human Remains Stolen from Harvard Morgue; Brains Sold, Skin Turned Into Leather
According to a June 2023 press release from the Attorney’s Office, former Harvard Medical School morgue manager Cedric Lodge is accused of stealing “organs and other parts of cadavers donated for medical research and education before their scheduled cremations,” sometimes allegedly bringing the remains to his New Hampshire home before selling them to Katrina Maclean, Joshua Taylor and others. Lodge is also accused of allowing the pair to enter the morgue to examine the cadavers before making their purchases, all without the knowledge of the school or the family members of the deceased.
Maclean is the owner of Kat’s Creepy Creations. which specializes in selling “creepy dolls, oddities and bone art.” According to Mass Live, she often posted to Instagram about her creations, and showed off one in 2020 which she boasted had a “real human skull.” At the time, she said, “If you’re in the market for human bones hit me up.”
According to a previous indictment, Maclean once shipped human skin to Pauley and “engaged in his services to tan the skin to create leather.” She is said to have paid him in more skin, instead of money. Maclean also allegedly asked Cedric to supply more tissue to send to “the dude I sent the chest piece to tan,” and later contacted the buyer to confirm the shipment’s arrival by saying, “wanted to make sure it got to you and I don’t expect agents at my door.”
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Pauley also allegedly purchased stolen remains from Candace Chapman Scott, who worked at a Little Rock, Arkansas mortuary and crematorium. Per the United States Attorney’s Office, Scott allegedly stole body parts she was supposed to have cremated, as well as the corpses of two stillborn babies who were supposed to be cremated and returned as cremains to their families. According to court filings, Scott sent photos of the remains for one of the stillborn babies to Pauley on Facebook, before selling them to him for $300.
While police were tipped off to “possible human body parts being sold on Facebook” by Pauley in 2022, they didn’t have a search warrant for his home. After his then-wife reportedly received an order of protection from him weeks later and he was forced to vacate the residence, she discovered buckets with what appeared to be preserved organs in them in the basement. She then reportedly found Facebook messages “she thought confirmed her suspicions that the specimens she saw had been illegally obtained” and called the police.
He was arrested after cops allegedly found buckets containing “Human brains (2), skin, heart, kidney, spleen, fat, skull with hair, (2) livers, (6) pieces of skin/fat, Trachea, child mandible with teeth, and (2) lungs.”
Trials for the other five defendants are still pending.
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