Sam Amico
A Kentucky man has been arrested after authorities arrived at his apartment to find no less than 40 skulls and other bones that were stolen from the Harvard Medical School morgue.
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James Nott, 40, is accused of being part of a trafficking ring that sells human body parts for money. All of the sales allegedly take place online, with all of the parts stolen from Harvard.
When the FBI showed up at Nott’s home and asked if anyone else was inside, he reportedly responded, “Only my dead friends.”
His apartment was allegedly filled with about 40 human skulls, as well as spinal cords, femurs, and hip bones. One of the skulls was fund on the bed where Nott sleeps, police said. Other bones allegedly decorated the furniture.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Nott was also charged with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon after feds discovered an AK-47 rifle, a .38 special, Charter Arms, revolver, and ammunition in his home.
He faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted.
The FBI started to focus on Nott after Jeremy Pauley, who was charged in the same case, offered information on others within the trafficking ring. Nott and Pauley allegedly spoke with one another about buying spines and skulls on Facebook. Nott used the name “William Burke” in his Facebook interactions, but used his real name and information on PayPal.
Nott lives in Mt. Washington, a city of about 18,000 outside of Louisville. As for the firearm charge, it came after he “was convicted of possession of an unregistered destructive device and possession of a firearm by an unlawful user of marijuana” in 2011, per the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
