A Kentucky man with at least 40 skulls and dozens more human parts in his home has been arrested as part of a nationwide probe into the sale of body parts.
Federal agents raided the Mt. Washington home of James Nott, 39, on Tuesday as part of the sprawling investigation. Inside, cops found the numerous skulls, along with spinal cords, femurs, and hip bones, according to charging documents.
When officers asked if anyone else was home, Nott responded, “Only my dead friends.”
Investigators also found several weapons at the home, including an AK-47, according to a probable cause statement. Nott has a previous felony conviction, making his ownership of the firearms illegal.
In the charging documents, the feds noted that Nott had been selling body parts over the internet using a Facebook account with the name “William Burke.” Burke was an infamous 1800s Scottish serial killer.
However, Nott was not immediately charged in connection with those sales.
Nott had been communicating with Jeremy Pauley, a Pennsylvania resident who was busted in August 2022 for buying body parts that were stolen from a mortuary in Arkansas.
Pauley had also been buying human remains from Harvard Medical School’s morgue manager, according to an ongoing federal investigation. Morgue boss Cedric Lodge and his wife, Denise, were arrested last month and charged with selling an array of body parts across state lines.
“Some crimes defy understanding,” U.S. Attorney Gerard M. Karam said at the time. “The theft and trafficking of human remains strikes at the very essence of what makes us human.”
Federal agents have not drawn any direct connections between Nott and the Lodges. It remains unclear how Nott obtained his eccentric collection of “dead friends.”
