Blood is thicker than water. Money is thicker than blood, or so they say. This week on WWW we dig into the darker side of human ingenuity, where individuals exploit the dead for personal gain. Morbidity with monetary motives are the theme this week as we examine the odd and unsettling ways people cash in on human death.
Deathbed payout that keeps on giving
In Overland Park, Kansas, a couple, Lynn and Kirk Ritter, both 61, are facing legal trouble for a macabre scheme. Apparently, they concealed the body of Lynn’s father, Mike Carroll, who passed away in 2016 at the age of 81, in their home for an astonishing six years. During this time, they continued to collect and spend over $215,000 of Carroll’s retirement and Social Security benefits.
The cheques kept coming in and they just kept cashing them. The body, described as “mummified,” was discovered on a bed in his home in 2022, after Kirk Ritter reported Carroll’s death.
Family members shared their confusion and distress, having been led to believe Carroll was alive, while the Ritters kept up their charade. The two are set to appear in court on February 2. They face multiple charges. Interestingly, in a sense the deceased will be a witness.
A literal chopshop
Where do you go after death? As it turns out you may be parted out. Cedric and Denise Lodge, along with two others are facing trial following the shocking revelation last June that the Lodges’ were selling human remains from Harvard Medical School’s morgue.
Cedric Lodge, the morgue manager, is accused of stealing dissected body parts, including heads, brains, and skin, and selling them to buyers across the nation. Among the buyers was Katrina Maclean, owner of Kat’s Creepy Creations, who reportedly purchased human skin to turn into leather. The transactions were carried out between 2018 and 2021, and involved substantial sums of money. Walking stick walks all over him
The indictments are for conspiracy and interstate transport of stolen goods. This macabre trade has shocked the community, with Harvard Medical School expressing its dismay over the betrayal of trust.
Walking stick walks all over him
The death of Queen Elizabeth II triggered an uptick in the trade in royal memorabilia and one fellow, Dru Marshall, saw this as an opportunity to cash in. The 26-year-old from Hampshire, was convicted recently for attempting to sell a walking stick on eBay, falsely claiming it belonged to the late Queen Elizabeth II. Marshall claimed he was a former footman at Windsor Castle and promised that the proceeds would go to cancer research. Buyers sought further background information, as this would have been a highly sought after item and potentially, if real, stolen property belonging to her estate. Police became involved and searched his home, finding some memorabilia and evidence of the attempted fraud and the attempt to cover it up as it started to unwind.
When it went to court, Marshall testified and claimed his eBay account was hacked (it wasn’t) and even so it was all a part of a social experiment (it wasn’t). The magistrate disbelieved him finding nothing credible in Mr. Marshall’s evidence. He failed to sell the item, which would have been considered much more aggravated. In the end he was convicted of fraud by false representation. He received a 12-month community order.
Although Her Majesty didn’t take it with her, it was clear that this was not her walking stick. It’s also clear that in some real sense, some people are willing to exploit the dead.
