A self-described “human blood artist” from Pennsylvania was busted for peddling body parts — some belonging to children — that had been swiped from a mortuary, cops said.
Jeremy Pauley, 40, of Enola, has been charged with abuse of a corpse, receiving stolen property and dealing in proceeds of unlawful activities.
East Pennsboro Township police said in a statement that on June 14, investigators received a tip about suspicious activity at Pauley’s home in the 200 block of North Enola Road.
A subsequent investigation determined that Pauley — a body modification artist whose face is covered with tattoos and whose head is decorated with metal spikes — was allegedly buying human body parts from a woman in Arkansas identified in court documents as Candace Scott.
“Those human remains were being sold on Facebook for monetary gain,” police stated.
Pauley had been arrested on July 22 and released on $50,000 bond. He made his initial court appearance on Thursday.
A spokeswoman for the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock said the body parts at the center of the criminal case were to be donated to UAMS’s facility, but they were instead swiped from Arkansas Central Mortuary Services in Little Rock by a female employee and sold.
“We are very respectful of those who donate their bodies, and we are appalled that such a thing could happen,” spokeswoman Leslie Taylor said.
So far, no charges had been filed against Scott, the Arkansas mortuary staffer.
On a Facebook page under his name, Pauley has posted pictures of bags and piles of femurs, vertebrae, clavicles, ribs and human teeth for sale.
One of the images shared on Aug. 16 — three weeks after his arrest — was captioned: “picked up more medical bones to sort through.”
The Facebook page Pauley uses to market his body parts is called “The Grand Wunderkammer,” “Vendors of the odd and unusual, museum exhibits, guest lectures, live entertainment, and so much more! Strange, curious, and unique in every way possible!” It also provides a link to his website.
“I think I’ve seen it all, and then something like this comes around,” said Sean McCormack, district attorney for Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, where Pauley was charged. “The question we had to answer was, ‘Is the sale of body parts or bones and remains illegal … or legal?’ Some of it, to our surprise, was legal. And as the investigation went on, it became clear there was illegal activity going on as well.”
Pauley, who described himself to police as a collector of “oddities,” said the remains were purchased legally when first contacted by authorities, according to a police affidavit. Cops initially found what they described as older human remains including full skeletons that they determined were lawfully obtained.
However, after a second tip about newer remains in Pauley’s home, investigators returned to the house to find more recent purchases.
Police found three five-gallon buckets containing assorted body parts, including two brains, human skin and fat, a heart, a kidney, livers, lungs, a trachea and a child’s mandible with teeth, according to a criminal complaint cited by Fox 43.
Federal and state law enforcement agents later intercepted packages addressed to Pauley from the Arkansas woman that contained body parts.
Pauley told investigators that he intended to resell the body parts, according to the affidavit. Investigators allege that Pauley arranged to pay the Arkansas woman $4,000 for the body parts — including half a human head — through Facebook Messenger.
Facebook’s community standards prohibit human exploitation and explicitly prohibit selling body parts through its commercial policies and advertising policies.
Frequent posts suggest that Pauley has been doing brisk business selling his macabre wares on the social media platform since his arrest.
In an article published in 2014 on the site Dread Central, Pauley, who has a daughter, talked about creating artwork using human blood, which he said he was getting from “willing donors,” including his then-wife and friends.
“I draw a vial or two and then freeze it until I can paint,” he explained.
In 2015, Pauley was commissioned by “Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3D” star Dan Yeager to paint in blood a portrait of Freddie Krueger, reported the Keystone News.
He’s also created several gory artworks depicting infamous serial killers, including Jeffrey Dahmer and Ted Bundy, which were displayed in the Museum of Death in New Orleans.
