FBI Finds 40 Skulls, Human Remains In Home of Kentucky Man Linked to Trafficking Ring

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Authorities asked the man whether anyone was in his residence before searching. His alleged response: “Only my dead friends.”

A man in Kentucky has been arrested in connection with the trafficking of human remains stolen from a Harvard Medical School morgue — as authorities said they discovered his home littered with bones.

When feds showed up to the apartment of 39-year-old James Nott earlier this week with a search warrant, he was reportedly asked whether anyone else was inside. His alleged response: “Only my dead friends.”

Once authorities entered the residence, they made quite the discovery.

Getty/Cumberland County District Attorney’s Office/Instagram

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The place was said to be filled with “human remains including approximately 40 human skulls, spinal cords, femurs, and hip bones.” One of the skulls was found on the mattress where Nott slept, according to the FBI affidavit in his case, while others were “decorated around the furniture.” Another was wrapped in a head scarf.

According to a release from the United States Attorney’s Office, an AK-47, a number of revolvers and ammunition were also found in his home. The search warrant was executed in connection with a search for firearms and trafficked human remains, after Nott was linked to an ongoing federal probe into the online selling and shipping of stolen body parts from Harvard; a Harvard Medical School bag was also found in the home.

Nott was charged with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, though no additional charges pertaining to the bones have yet been filed.

Feds zeroed in on Nott after Jeremy Pauley, who was previously charged in the same case, provided investigators info on others in his network. He and Nott allegedly spoke with one another about purchasing skulls and spines on Facebook — and while Nott used the name “William Burke,” a noted serial killer who sold corpses, his PayPal info was tied to his real name.

Nott was reportedly still posting to his profile about having remains for sale as recently as last month.

In addition to Lott and Pauley, the other defendants in the case include Cedric Lodge — who managed the morgue at Harvard Medical School and has pleaded not guilty after being accused of stealing and selling body parts from the deceased there — and his wife Denise, as well as Mathew Lampi, Katrina Maclean and Joshua Taylor.