(PatriotWise.com) — A New Hampshire woman, who was accused of helping her husband sell human body parts online, pleaded guilty in federal court on April 12, the Associated Press reported.
Denise Lodge, 64, and her husband, former Harvard Medical School morgue manager Cedric Lodge, were charged last June, along with five others, in a scheme to purchase and sell human remains that were stolen from the Harvard morgue and a mortuary in Arkansas.
According to federal prosecutors, from 2018 until early last year, Cedric Lodge stole parts from donated cadavers from the Harvard Medical School morgue, where he had worked for over 20 years. He transported the body parts to his New Hampshire home, where his wife, Denise, would negotiate their sale online.
From 2018 until March 2020, Denise Lodge negotiated the sale of multiple body parts, including two feet, five dissected faces, two dozen hands, nine spines, and two dissected heads.
Denise Lodge pleaded guilty to interstate transportation of stolen goods in the US District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania.
In a February interview with WBUR, Denise Lodge’s attorney said Cedric Lodge was the one “doing this” and Denise “just kind of went along with it.”
Cedric Lodge pleaded not guilty and is awaiting trial.
Two buyers, Pennsylvania resident Joshua Taylor and Massachusetts resident Katrina Maclean, were also charged in the case. They, too, have pleaded not guilty and are awaiting trial.
Taylor allegedly made 39 separate payments totaling over $37,000 to the online account operated by Denise Lodge.
Two others charged—Mathew Lampi and Jeremy Pauley of Minnesota—pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing.
Former mortuary worker Candace Chapman Scott, who worked at the Arkansas mortuary, was indicted last April. Scott initially pleaded not guilty but court records show that a plea hearing in her case is scheduled for later this month, according to the Boston Globe.
Denise Lodge could face up to 10 years in prison plus a fine of $250,000.
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