After discovering a gruesome underground market for human remains, an Arkansas woman faces 15 years in jail for stealing and selling body parts.#LittleRockAR #News #Crime #Arkansas
TINY ROCK, A former mortuary worker was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison for trafficking human body parts in a horrific underground market, in a grisly crime case that shocked Arkansas. The plan was to sell remains, including fetuses, to a quirky collector who shows off a face covered in piercings and tattoos.
At the heart of the horrific scheme was 37-year-old Candace Chapman Scott, who took advantage of her job at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Anatomical Gift Program.
Scott sent human remains to Jeremy Lee Pauley, a self-described oddity collector from Thompson, Pennsylvania, over a period of several months. According to police, the two first got in touch through a Facebook group that publicly discussed the trade of human body parts.
Details of the Disturbing Trade
Scott sold a gruesome assortment of human parts, including skulls, brains, hearts, and even fetuses, for more than $10,000 between October 2021 and July 2022.
As part of a larger network connected to related crimes involving other institutions, including Harvard Medical School, prosecutors described how Pauley acquired the remains in a total of 24 shipments over the mail.
Evidence of Scott’s gruesome actions, including more body parts she acknowledged stealing from her job, were found when police raided her residence. In one especially heinous instance, Scott allegedly sent the incorrect ashes to the parents of children who had passed away by substituting the ashes of cremated remains with others in order to trick bereaved relatives.
The FBI’s recovery of Baby Lux’s body in another state revealed the terrible reality to one family in particular. Prosecutors described the crime as unfathomable, and the family was shocked by the awful discovery.
A Network of Depravity
Pauley, who bought the remains, admitted to trafficking stolen human body parts across state lines and is awaiting imprisonment. His relationship with Scott revealed a wider, corrupt underground economy serving human remains collectors.
Scott entered a guilty plea to several offenses, including conspiracy to conduct mail fraud and transportation of stolen human body parts, and was subsequently sentenced. Citing the severe emotional harm done to families who trusted her with their loved ones’ remains, prosecutors characterized her acts as inhuman.
Unimaginable Consequences for Families
The suffering endured by the impacted families is unfathomable. The mother of Baby Lux expressed her distress, stating that the idea of her child’s body being sent across the nation like a package haunts her. As the case’s specifics were described, the courtroom was a hive of emotion.
The federal judge presiding over the case stressed the unusual seriousness of Scott’s offenses, even as she conveyed regret at sentencing. Investigators described it as a terrifying reminder of the murky world of human trafficking, where crooks take advantage of people’s trust in order to make money.
The FBI, which led the investigation, promised to keep up its efforts to provide victims of such horrible crimes with justice.
Associated Topics: Crime, Pennsylvania, and Arkansas
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