Guilt admitted in case of stolen cadaver parts

Mortuary worker pleads to mail fraud, theft

LITTLE ROCK — A Little Rock woman accused of stealing body parts from the mortuary where she worked and selling them to a Pennsylvania man pleaded guilty in federal court Thursday to mail fraud conspiracy and interstate transportation of stolen property, exposing her to a possible maximum prison term of 20 to 30 years.

Candace Chapman Scott, 37, pleaded guilty to two counts contained in a 12-count indictment that was returned by a federal grand jury in Little Rock on April 4, 2023, charging her with conspiracy to commit mail fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to commit interstate transportation of stolen property, and four counts each of mail fraud and wire fraud.

She admitted to U.S. District Judge Brian Miller that she shipped 24 boxes of body parts, including two human fetal remains, between Oct. 31, 2021, and July 15, 2022, to a Pennsylvania man — Jeremy Pauley — whom she had contacted though Facebook. Scott admitted to receiving $10,625 from Pauley that was paid through PayPal for the remains.

Scott was employed by a Little Rock mortuary that had contracted with the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences’ Anatomic Gift Program to provide cremation services for the medical school. A spokesperson for UAMS said last year that the medical school had terminated its contract with the mortuary after Scott’s activities came to light.

Held in federal custody for nearly 10 months following her arrest, Scott was allowed to leave custody in February under an agreement reached between Assistant U.S. Attorney Amanda Jegley and Scott’s attorney, Birc Morledge of Little Rock, that was approved by U.S. Magistrate Judge Benecia Moore. Following Thursday’s hearing, U.S. District Judge Brian Miller allowed Scott to remain out of jail until her sentencing date.

The macabre scheme began to unravel on June 14, 2022, with a complaint to police in the Pennsylvania municipality of East Pennsboro Township regarding buckets of body parts discovered at Pauley’s home. Pauley, a local artist and self-described “oddities collector,” was arrested Aug. 18, 2022, by East Pennsboro Township police, according to a news release from the Cumberland County, Pa., district attorney’s office. Although Scott’s name came out in that investigation, she was not charged in Pennsylvania.

Pauley, 41, now living in Thompson, Penn., pleaded guilty in September to conspiracy and interstate transportation of stolen property in federal court in the Middle District of Pennsylvania and is awaiting sentencing. He was sentenced in March to two years probation on a Pennsylvania state charge of abuse of a corpse.

Outlining the terms of the plea agreement, Jegley said that Scott contacted Pauley in October 2021 over Facebook, introducing herself as a mortician at a trade service mortuary. Jegley said that although Scott worked at the mortuary, she was not licensed as a mortician and knew that she was not authorized to harvest organs, tissues or bones, or to dismember a corpse for any reason, “including financial gain.”

“Scott then asked Pauley if he knew anyone interested in purchasing an embalmed human brain,” Jegley said. “Scott and Pauley then negotiated the purchase of human body parts that Scott stole from UAMS.”

Jegley said that Pauley instructed Scott on how to package body parts and the two engaged in regular transactions until the scheme came to light the following June with the discovery of body parts in Pauley’s home.

On Dec. 15, 2021, Jegley said, Scott contacted Pauley through Facebook Messenger to ask if he was interested in buying a fetus, explaining to Pauley that, “we get stillbirths all the time from UAMS and basically give the parents back a pinch of ashes from a whole person we cremated — do you collect fetuses?”

In January 2022, Jegley said, Scott shipped a fetus to Pauley through the mail in exchange for $650 that was paid via PayPal. She then sold Pauley a second fetus the following month for $300, Jegley said.

A search warrant executed on Scott’s home on July 13, 2022, Jegley said, turned up numerous stolen body parts stored in boxes and trash bags. Among the items found, she said, were a human brain, heart, skullcap, kidneys, livers, hands, and a female pelvis with femurs and flesh attached. At the time of the search, Jegley said, Scott admitted to police that she had stolen human body parts from her work and shipped them to Pauley in Pennsylvania.

Jegley noted that Scott had agreed to pay any restitution, fine or forfeiture ordered by the court and said such obligations would not be allowed to be discharged through bankruptcy. She said Scott would be obligated to a mandatory fine of $10,625 and added that restitution is currently being negotiated.

“How do you determine restitution in a case like this?” Miller asked. “Do you go to the families? What do you do?”

“Ms. Jegley and I had a conversation this morning,” Morledge said. “We’re going to do our best to do that, to figure that out. I think Ms. Jegley has a plan in place to figure out what that number might be.”

“I think until we have conversations with the victims,” Jegley began.

“When you say victims do you mean family members?” Miller asked. “Because it can’t be a conversation with the deceased, right?”

Jegley confirmed that such talks would be conducted with the affected families.

Miller said that following completion of a pre-sentence investigation report by the U.S. Probation Office in Little Rock, a process that normally takes between 60 and 90 days, he will set a date for Scott, who was allowed to remain on pretrial release conditions, to return for sentencing.