An Arkansas woman who stole human body parts from the mortuary where she worked has pleaded guilty.
Candance Chapman Scott sold over $10,000 worth of human remains to a man on Facebook over a two-year period. On Thursday, Scott admitted to two charges against her in federal court. She was initially indicted on April 5 of this year.
Scott pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail fraud and interstate transportation of stolen property. Through her lawyer, she asked the government to drop the other counts they listed in their indictment. As part of the plea, she admitted to stealing body parts and fetal remains. Scott has agreed to pay back the money she received selling body parts. Additionally, she could go to prison for up to 30 years and could face fines up to $500,000.
When she committed the crimes, Scott did not have a mortician's license, but worked in a mortuary. The facility had connections with the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.
UAMS has an anatomical gifts program, allowing people to give their body to science for teaching and other research purposes. After the bodies are donated, UAMS gives them to a mortuary who cremates them before putting the “cremains” in a garden. The whole process takes about 72 hours. UAMS retains property of the remains through this entire process. Leslie Taylor a spokeswoman for UAMS says the hospital is did "change crematoriums" after the incident. She said the hospital "grateful to the many people who unselfishly donate their bodies to our Anatomical Gift Program."
Scott admits that, while she worked for the mortuary, she found a man named Jeremy Pauley through Facebook. Pauley was part of a Facebook group called “Oddities" and worked as a tattoo artist in Pennsylvania.
Over two years, Scott and Pauley would buy and sell body parts to each other on Facebook messenger.
On Oct. 28, 2021, Scott sent this message to Pauley:
"I follow your page and work and LOVE it,” Scott said. “I'm a mortician and work at a trade service mortuary, so we are contracted through the medical hospital here in Little Rock to cremate their cadavers when the medical students are done with them before they discard them in a cremation garden. Just out of curiosity, would you know anyone in the market for a fully intact, embalmed brain?"
She later followed up with the message and said "I actually just looked and I have 2 embalmed with skull cap."
Pauley then told her how to package and send over the body parts. Scott sent him pictures of the remains and asked, "would $1200 shipped sound reasonable for all 3 pieces including skull caps?"
Pauley wrote back: "you are literally on the same page because that was going to be my offer lol!”
Scott then paid Pauley $1,200 through PayPal for the body parts. This pattern continued over the next two years. Scott would photograph the body parts and send the pictures to Pauley before sending him the remains through the mail. Pauley was arrested in 2022 after police were sent an anonymous tip.
Scott sold seven different body parts on two separate occasions for over $900.
In November 2021, Scott messaged Pauley to let him know that more bodies would be at the mortuary before the medical school semester ended. UAMS got 12 more cadavers in early December. Over the next few weeks Scott sold dozens of body parts from the cadavers for almost $4,000.
In her plea agreement, Scott says she messaged Pauley on Dec. 15, 2021, to ask if he was interested in acquiring a stillborn fetus.
“We get stillbirths all the time from UAMS,” she said. “And basically give the parents back a pinch of ashes from a whole person we cremated- do you collect fetuses?”
Taylor from UAMS said: "I have little faith in the claims made by someone trying to make sales of body parts on the internet who has now pled guilty to these crimes."
On Jan. 8, 2022, Scott preserved a fetus from the mortuary. According to Pauley's indictment, the baby was the child of an Arkansas resident and named Lux by his mother.
"I am going to get some ice packs tomorrow since our Walmart and dollar store was out by my house and hopefully get the little guy shipped tomorrow," Scott messaged Pauley.
She shipped it overnight for $650. Scott sold a second fetus on Feb. 9, 2022. This one was cheaper at $300 because Scott said "he's not in great shape."
Although the money was transferred to her account, it's unclear if this second fetus made it to Pauley.
On February 18, Scott messaged: "your other made it there yet. .. should be any day if not. [P]ost offices said they've been super behind lately. I sent it priority though."
Pauley asked her what date she sent the second fetus. Scott responded "Monday? Tuesday? Hell I don't know they all run together and I lost the damn receipt."
Scott sold human remains to Pauley three more times through May and June of 2022. These packages contained dozens of body parts totaling almost $6,000 of remains. Among them were a female pelvis and four human hands. She also mailed several lungs, kidneys and pieces of skin.
In her plea agreement Scott agreed to pay back the $10,625 she gained selling the body parts. In all, she says she shipped 24 boxes to Pauley containing human remains.
In 2022, Pauley was arrested for the crimes and sentenced to two years probation. A Pennsylvania indictment says he also received human remains from Harvard Medical School and that he would turn the human skin into leather.
Taylor a spokeswoman from UAMS said: "No employee of UAMS was involved in these crimes and it’s important to note that UAMS and the Anatomical Gift Program donors were the victims of this appalling criminal activity by one bad actor."
