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Kentucky man allegedly linked to Harvard stolen body parts case as another lawsuit is filed
FBI agents searching James Nott's apartment allegedly found dozens of human skulls and bones, as well as a Harvard Medical School bag.
Upon arriving at James Nott’s apartment Tuesday to execute a search warrant, FBI agents asked the Kentucky man if anyone else was home.
“Only my dead friends,” Nott allegedly responded.
Inside, federal investigators say they found about 40 human skulls, spinal cords, femurs, and hip bones strewn about.
“The skulls were decorated around the furniture,” one FBI agent wrote in an affidavit filed in federal court this week. “One skull had a head scarf around it. One skull was located on the mattress where Nott slept.”
Also found inside the home: A Harvard Medical School bag.
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According to court documents, the 40-year-old Nott — who was arrested and charged this week on unrelated firearms charges — may be linked to a nationwide scheme to buy and sell human body parts, some allegedly stolen from Harvard Medical School’s morgue.
Nott’s alleged ties to the Harvard body parts case
The former morgue manager, Cedric Lodge, and his wife, Denise, are accused of stealing body parts and selling them to people across the country. The Lodges and some of their alleged customers were charged last month out of a federal court in Pennsylvania.
Among those charged was Jeremy Pauley, a Pennsylvania man who allegedly bought, sold, and shipped various human remains across state lines.
More on the Harvard case:
According to court documents, investigators found Facebook communications between Pauley and Nott, who went by the name “William Burke.” The username was an apparent nod to a 19th century Edinburgh serial killer who — along with his partner, William Hare — sold victims’ bodies to University of Edinburgh anatomy lecturer Dr. Robert Knox.
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Over Facebook, Pauley and Nott allegedly discussed the sale and shipment of human remains. The affidavit includes two pictures of human skulls that Nott allegedly posted for sale on his Facebook page.
Nott has not been charged with any crimes related to the human remains.
Another family member sues over body part theft
In addition to the ongoing criminal cases, the Harvard morgue scandal has also sparked several civil lawsuits against the college and Cedric Lodge, with the families of several people who donated their bodies to Harvard taking their grievances to court.
The latest lawsuit comes from Anne Weiss, a South Deerfield, Massachusetts, woman whose father, Dr. William Buchanan, donated his body to Harvard Medical School upon his death in 2018.
Weiss filed her complaint in Suffolk Superior Court Thursday, alleging intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligence, negligent hiring and supervision, and interference with a corpse.
The lawsuit alleges that Harvard knew that Cedric Lodge drove to work in a car with a “Grim-R” license plate and had a penchant for “macabre hobbies,” yet “failed to supervise and monitor their employee and failed to establish and or enforce basic precautions that would have prevented the establishment and operation of a body parts bazaar within their facility.”
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