LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Mount Washington resident James Nott was arrested Tuesday, and has been identified as a member of a national ring to buy and sell stolen body parts. The ring also includes former Harvard medical school morgue director Cedric Lodge.
While the federal investigation is linked to the purchase and sale of body parts, Nott is charged with being a prohibited person in possession of a firearm, and bringing those firearms across state lines.
"It's an interesting thing to know that this goes on, on a regular basis in this country," attorney Larry Wilder said.
Wilder is a Jeffersonville-based lawyer who has practiced all around the country.
Wilder says there is no federal law against having human remains or body parts in your home, and many states differ in their "abuse of corpse" laws.
"The lack of continuity comes from the effort to try and not criminalize what is the normal business of being an embalmer -- a funeral home director," Wilder said.
Nott is facing a maximum of 10 years in prison for the federal gun charge, and Wilder said he could be charged under Kentucky's abuse of corpse law. Wilder says that would require a strong argument.
Kentucky's abuse of corpse law says, "A person is guilty of abuse of a corpse when except as authorized by law he intentionally treats a corpse in a way that would outrage ordinary family sensibilities."
"It's possible, it will be a tough make," Wilder said. "Burden will be to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that what this individual was doing would outrage ordinary family sensibilities; say, they were sitting in a display cabinet, so, you'd have to know the facts."
The federal affidavit into Nott's home detailed how "the skulls were decorated around the furniture. One skull had a head scarf around it. One skull was located on the mattress where Nott slept."
The affidavit also said a Harvard Medical School bag was found inside the residence. The charges against the former Harvard employee are "conspiracy to distribute stolen goods".
Wilder has specific experience with this area of the law, as he represented families suing former Jeffersonville funeral home director Randy Lankford, who was found with dozens of decomposing bodies in his business.
Lankford pleaded guilty to 43 counts of theft or fraud for stealing money from people, because he did not care for their loved ones as he said he would. He was sentenced to four years of supervised release but no jail time.
Wilder says a civil case against Lankford is ongoing.
Kentucky's abuse of corpse law also says, "A person shall also be guilty of abuse of a corpse if that person enters into a contract and accepts remuneration for the preparation of a corpse for burial or the burial or cremation of a corpse and then deliberately fails to prepare, bury, or cremate that corpse in accordance with that contract."
Indiana's abuse of corpse law only covers having sex with or mutilating dead bodies. Wilder said if Lankford had committed his actions in Kentucky, he could have faced an additional charge.
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