When FBI agents searched an apartment in Mount Washington, Kentucky, on Tuesday and found 40 human skulls, spinal cords, femurs and pelvic bones, they asked local resident James Knott if he was in the house.
"Only my friends died," he replied.
Officers found a covered skull and another in Knott's bed. The rest were scattered around apartment number 3 as decorations.
The gruesome revelations were revealed in a criminal complaint filed by Knott against the Harvard Medical School Mortuary and the Little Rock, Arkansas mortuary over stolen body parts at the Interstate and World Trade Center.
A complaint and affidavit filed by the FBI as part of a search warrant at his home in Mount Washington, about 25 miles southeast of Louisville, alleges Knott bought and sold body parts overseas. .
In a Facebook post detailing the details and their value, Knott used the same name as "William Burke," a serial killer active in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1827-1828 with his partner William Hare.
Together, the pair sold their victims' bodies to Dr. Robert Knox, a professor of exercise science at the University of Edinburgh.
America's plans were exposed when police in East Pennsboro, Pennsylvania, received a tip that human remains might be found at Jeremy Pauley's home near Enola.
Police executed a search warrant and found items containing human remains and skin.
Paul's wife, Sarah, provided law enforcement with screenshots of her relationship with a woman who worked at a mortuary in Little Rock, Arkansas.
He allegedly stole the cremated remains and sold them to Polye on Facebook. They include a human heart, brain lung and two fetal samples. Payments are made through PayPal.
Pauley told the FBI about a group of people involved in selling and transporting fake body parts.
According to the complaint and article in the New York Times, Cedric Lodge, director of the cadaver award program at Harvard Medical School, is one of the network's members. According to the complaint, Lodge collects body parts and sells them online.
According to the affidavit, Pauley contacted Knott, who was using a fake Facebook name, about the sale and shipment of human remains. Nott sent the photos and videos.
"How many of the couple you sent have returned?" Paulie asked.
Nott priced it and Paulie replied, "It worked for me."
Paulie, Lodge and four others were charged in federal court in Pennsylvania with stolen goods and interstate conspiracy.
During a search of a Knottmount, Washington residence, the FBI said they found an AK-47, .38 caliber special load and ammunition.
In the year In 2011, Knott pleaded guilty to criminal possession of a defaced object and possession of a firearm. On Tuesday, he was accused of being a person prohibited from possessing firearms.
He denied a bail hearing and is being held in the Oldham County Jail pending further court orders. He was appointed as a federal prosecutor and his trial is set for August 4.
Reporter Andrew Wolfson can be reached at (502) 396-5853 or wolfson@courier-journal.com .
This article originally appeared in the Louisville Courier-Journal: Harvard body parts scandal: Kentucky man accused of using skull as decoration
