Pennsylvania man charged with buying body parts is HISTORIAN conserving remains, girlfriend claims

The girlfriend of a heavily-tattooed Pennsylvania man accused of being involved in illegal trading of body parts has claimed he is an innocent historian who preserves human remains for the good of society.

Jeremy Pauley, 41, and five others were charged with trafficking in stolen human remains including skulls, hearts, skin and stillborn babies.

Prosecutors say a nationwide network of individuals bought and sold human remains stolen from Harvard Medical School and an Arkansas mortuary. 

But Pauley's girlfriend Sophie Mae Vee - who describes herself as a human blood artist -has now claimed he has a legitimate, legal, business preserving human parts for his museum.

'Jeremy’s devotion to unusual antiquities is as unconditional as his appearance is, which is unfortunate in a situation where clickbait is as far as media reaches,' she wrote on Facebook. 

Jeremy Pauley, 41, is accused of being involved in the illegal trade of human body parts. His girlfriend (pictured) claims he is an innocent historian

Sophie Mae Vee says Pauly has a legitimate business preserving human parts for his museum

Indeed, it is legal in almost every state to buy and sale the properly obtained human remains of adult, but it's illegal to trade human fetuses

'Properly preserved remains are perfectly legal in the legal states (excluding GA, TN and LA). As a conserver of history, Jeremy repurposes retired remains to prevent specimens from being destroyed - his museum is all about education and reclamation.'

Indeed, it is legal in almost every state to buy and sale the properly obtained human remains of adult, but it's illegal to trade human fetuses. 

A website for Pauley's museum, The Memento Mori, states he is a 'lead preservation specialist of retired medical specimens and curator to historic remains and artifacts.'

'Through his work in the Institute of Preservation, Jeremy works to produce educational tools through reconditioning retired medical remains by means of plastination, corrosion casting, anatomical mounts, and all manners of preservation and restorative procedures.

'Jeremy’s work in The Memento Mori Museum is to foster a place where lost histories are regained and respectfully displayed.'

The museum's website features images of fetuses in glass containers and claims Pauley repurposes specimens deemed unusable that would be sold by companies that misuse them.

'Because of the twisted nature of these companies, Jeremy dedicates his time in preserving and reconditioning retired specimens to continue their use to students - sourcing from MD’s estate sales, medical facilities, and museum donations,' states the website.

Sophie, a self described 'human blood artist,' said Jeremy was scammed by 'the woman in Arkansas named Candice.'

Harvard morgue manager Cedric Lodge, 55, and Arkansas funeral home worker Candace Chapman Scott, 36, are both facing up to 15 years in prison for their alleged roles in the macabre underground network dealing in stolen brains, hearts, skin and fetal remains.

An anonymous tip from 'someone [Pauley] was no longer dating' gave investigators the key to the case, according to Cumberland County District Attorney Sean McCormack.

The tipster told police they found what they believed were human organs and human skin in five-gallon buckets in the basement of Pauley's home, three of which they recovered in a visit to his home that same day. 

Police also discovered two human brains, two lungs, a heart, two livers, and a skull with hair after obtaining a search warrant.

A website for Pauley's museum, The Memento Mori, states he is a 'lead preservation specialist of retired medical specimens and curator to historic remains and artifacts' 

Sophie, a self described 'human blood artist,' said Jeremy was scammed by 'the woman in Arkansas named Candice'

Harvard morgue manager Cedric Lodge (right), 55, and Arkansas funeral home worker Candace Chapman Scott, 36, are both facing up to 15 years in prison 

Over a nine-month-period, Pauley allegedly paid Scott $10,975 for various body parts – including a heart, brains, liver, kidney, trachea, ears, 'two fake boobies', lungs, skin, a penis, testicles, a whole head and two fetus'.

Pauley is accused of reselling the remains he received to others, including tattoo artist Matthew Lampi.

Lampi, 52, of East Bethel, Minnesota, and Pauley bought and sold from each other and exchanged over $100,000 in online payments.

Federal court documents filed in Arkansas say that Scott first reached out to Pauley in October 2021 with a message that read: 'I follow your page and work and LOVE it. I'm a mortician and work at a trade service mortuary.

'We are contracted through the medical hospital here in Little Rock to cremate their cadavers when the medical students are done with them before they discard them in a cremation garden.

'Just out of curiosity, would you know anyone in the market for a fully intact [sic], embalmed brain?'

Her indictment stated she did not have an active mortician's license at the time, and was not authorized to harvest organs, tissues, or bones, or dismember a corpse.

She took pictures of the organs in her apartment and sent them to Pauley using the United States Postal Service, telling him on one occasion that one of the fetuses was 'not in great shape' so he could have a lower price, the indictment claims.

Court records show she has been held without bail since April and was ordered to undergo a psychiatric evaluation.

Pauley had previously been arrested and charged with abuse of a corpse, receiving stolen property and dealing in the proceeds of unlawful activities.

He also sells bone dust dice as well as other macabre items from his collection online.

Pauley also created bone fragment and dust dominoes, which he is selling on his Facebook page 

Pauley also sells bone dust dice as well as other macabre items from his collection online with his girlfriend - who has not been charged in any of the indictments

In October 2020, Katrina Maclean sold two dissected faces and skin to Pauley for $600, who was hired to tan the skin and make it into leather before shipping it back to MacLean

A separate indictment in Pennsylvania claims that Pauley also spent $40,049 buying body parts from Josh Taylor – who had purchased them from Cedric Lodge.

From at least April 2021 to January 2022, it is alleged that Taylor, of Pennsylvania, sold human remains he bought from Lodge at a higher price to Pauley.

Taylor pleaded not guilty to the charges in Pennsylvania last week and was also released.

Lodge is said to have stolen remains from cadavers donated to the prestigious Harvard's Medical School – which he had access to as morgue manager. He had worked there since 1995 until he was fired on May 6.

A federal incitement revealed that 'at times' he would take them to his home in New Hampshire, and his wife Denise, 63, would ship the illicit goods to others in their network using the USPS.

The couple moved from their four-bedroom and three-bathroom $385,000 property in Manchester, Massachusetts, to a smaller three-bed and two-bath house in Goffstown, New Hampshire, in 2020, where they are accused of continuing their gristly scheme.

Court documents state that Denise sent 'stolen human remains' from Manchester to Montgomery, Pennsylvania, in 2018 and 2019.

Harvard is now working with federal authorities to determine which donors may have been affected and have set up a hotline for donors' families to access information and support.

The school insisted that no other employees at the school are facing charges or are suspected of any wrongdoing.

In a statement, George Q. Daley, the Dean of the Faculty of Medicine at Harvard, described Lodge's behavior as 'an abhorrent betrayal' and 'morally reprehensible.'