PENNSYLVANIA, USA — A Cumberland County man charged with abuse of a corpse and other offenses after he allegedly tried to buy human remains from an Arkansas woman for resale on Facebook is facing his preliminary hearing on July 26.
Jeremy Pauley, 40, was charged after an investigation that began on June 14, 2022, and saw his preliminary hearing delayed six times.
Pauley, whom court records list as a resident of Bloomsburg but is called an Enola resident by police, describes himself on his Facebook page as the owner/curator of The Grand Wunderkammer and the executive director and curator of the Memento Mori Museum.
The Grand Wunderkammer's Facebook page describes the group as "vendors of the odd and unusual" and that its events feature "museum exhibits, guest lectures, live entertainment, and so much more!"
Pauley's personal Facebook account lists more than 4,900 friends.
The items he lists for sale on his page are described by Pauley as "medical bones," "femurs," "mandible bones", "teeth," and various other bones.
According to police, the investigation of Pauley began on June 14, when police received a phone call regarding suspicious activity at a home on the 200 block of North Enola Road in Enola.
The tipster told police that a suspect, later identified as Pauley, was buying human body parts and selling them on Facebook, according to police.
Investigators went to interview Pauley at his Enola home, according to the criminal complaint affidavit filed against him.
During the interview, Pauley allegedly told police he was in possession of three full human skeletons and approximately 15 to 20 human skulls, according to the complaint.
Pauley described himself as a collector of "oddities" and said the items were purchased legally, according to police.
Investigators said the items appeared to be "very old" and that Pauley appeared to have acquired them from "a legitimate purchase," according to the complaint.
On July 8, police say, they received another call regarding Pauley. The caller said they found additional human remains in the basement of Pauley's home. The caller reported there were buckets of "human skin" and "human organs" in the basement, the complaint states.
Police executed a search warrant at the home and collected three to five buckets containing suspected human remains, which were taken to the Cumberland County Coroner's Office and later transported to Dauphin County for testing, according to the complaint.
According to investigators, a forensic examiner later determined the buckets contained:
- human brains (2)
- human skin and human fat (6 pieces)
- a human heart
- a human kidney
- a human skull with hair
- human livers (2)
- a human trachea
- a human child's mandible with teeth
- human lungs (2)
Further investigation determined Pauley was purchasing the remains from a woman in Arkansas, whom police identified as Candace Scott. An examination of Facebook Messenger exchanges determined Pauley had purchased several human remains from Scott for $4,000, including:
- half a human head
- one whole human head minus the skull cap
- three human brains with skull caps
- a human heart
- a human liver
- a human lung
- human kidneys (2)
- a human female pelvis
- a piece of human torso including a nipple
- human hands (4)
Police say the items were shipped sent to Pauley via U.S. Postal Service. State Police intercepted the remains in Scranton, according to the complaint.
District Attorney Sean M. McCormack called the case "one of the most bizarre investigations" he has encountered in his 33 years as a prosecutor.
"Just when I think I have seen it all, a case like this comes around," said McCormack.
Investigators contacted police in Arkansas, who determined Scott was stealing the remains from a mortuary and sending them to Pauley to be resold. The remains were determined to belong to the University of Arkansas, according to the complaint.
In April 2023, Candace Chapman Scott, 36, a former mortuary worker, was indicted for setting up the transactions with Pauley through a Facebook group about “oddities.”
Scott, a Little Rock resident, pleaded not guilty to 12 counts, including conspiracy to commit mail fraud, mail fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy to commit interstate transportation of stolen property and interstate transportation of stolen property.
Scott was employed at Arkansas Central Mortuary Services, where part of her job was to transport, cremate and embalm remains.
The indictment alleges Scott approached Pauley in October 2021 and began offering to sell him remains from the medical school that the mortuary was supposed to cremate and return.
"Just out of curiosity, would you know anyone in the market for a fully in tact, embalmed brain?” the indictment alleges Scott wrote to Pauley in her first Facebook message.
The indictment alleges that over the next nine months, Scott sold Pauley fetuses, brains, hearts, lungs, genitalia, large pieces of skin and other body parts. At one point, the indictment alleges Scott sold the remains of a fetus at a discount, writing “he's not in great shape.”
The indictment alleges Scott collected $10,975 in 16 separate PayPal transfers.
In June 2023, authorities charged six more co-conspirators:
- Cedric Lodge, 55, of Goffstown, New Hampshire
- Katrina Maclean, 44, of Salem, Massachusetts
- Joshua Taylor, 46, of West Lawn, Berks County
- Denise Lodge, 63, of Goffstown, New Hampshire
- Mathew Lampi, 52, of East Bethel, Minnesota
U.S. Attorney Gerard M. Karam said the six suspects were indicted by a federal grand jury on conspiracy and interstate transport of stolen goods charges,.
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 indictment claims.
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, according to the indictment.
Maclean and Taylor resold the stolen remains to other people, including Pauley, for profit, Karam said.
Pauley also purchased stolen human remains from Scott, who stole remains from her employer, according to Karam.
Scott allegedly stole parts of cadavers she was supposed to have cremated, many of which had been donated to and used for research and educational purposes by an area medical school, as well as the corpses of two stillborn babies who were supposed to be cremated and returned as cremains to their families, the indictment claims.
Scott sold the stolen remains to Pauley and shipped them to Pauley in Cumberland County.
Pauley then allegedly sold many of the stolen remains he purchased to other individuals, including Matthew Lampi, according to Karam.
Lampi and Pauley bought and sold from each other over an extended period of time and exchanged over $100,000 in online payments, Karam said.
“Some crimes defy understanding,” said Karam. “The theft and trafficking of human remains strikes at the very essence of what makes us human. It is particularly egregious that so many of the victims here volunteered to allow their remains to be used to educate medical professionals and advance the interests of science and healing. For them and their families to be taken advantage of in the name of profit is appalling. With these charges, we are seeking to secure some measure of justice for all these victims.
"I’d like to thank Harvard Medical School, which is also a victim here, for their cooperation in this investigation. Additionally, this prosecution would not be possible without the close cooperation and hard work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and the United States Attorney’s Offices in multiple districts, including the Eastern District of Arkansas. From the beginning, this has been a multi-jurisdictional investigation, and our two offices have worked side by side to bring justice for these victims.”
"The defendants violated the trust of the deceased and their families all in the name of greed," said FBI Special Agent in Charge Jacqueline Maguire. "While today's charges cannot undo the unfathomable pain this heinous crime has caused, the FBI will continue to work tirelessly to see that justice is served."
Karam said the United States Attorney’s Office has and will continue to attempt to identify and contact as many of the victims and victims’ families affected by this case as possible.
If anyone believes they or a family member may have been affected by the conduct charged in these indictments and information, they can contact the Victim and Witness Unit at usapam-victim.information@usdoj.gov or (717) 614-4249.
Pauley is currently free after posting bail of $50,000, according to court records. His preliminary hearing is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. on July 26.