logo
episode-header-image
May 2024
35m 50s

Postmortem, Ep. 3: The collectors

Wbur
About this episode
Who are the people buying this stuff anyway? People who collect human remains don’t see it as gross. In fact, these collectors connect and communicate openly on social media. In Episode 3 of Postmortem: The Stolen Bodies of Harvard, reporter Ally Jarmanning meets Jeremy Pauley, the Pennsylvania man with a tattooed eye whose arrest unravels this whole case. Jarmanning dines in the home of a Delaware couple with a house full of skeletons; they call themselves “rescuers” of human remains. And she introduces us to Mike Drake, a New York City collector. Through all these conversations, it becomes clear: There's no solid ethical line in this world of remains collectors; everyone is making up their own rules. If you have questions, comments or tips about this story, you could reach us at LastSeen@wbur.org.
Up next
May 2024
Postmortem, Ep. 4: The anatomy lab
<p>As haunting as the Harvard morgue scandal is, you don't have to go back very far in history to find practices for sourcing bodies that would be shocking today. Reporter Ally Jarmanning finds that for more than a century, medical schools relied on grave robbing and body snatchi ... Show More
23m 47s
May 2024
Postmortem, Ep. 5: A reckoning
<p>In Episode 5 of <em>Postmortem: The Stolen Bodies of Harvard</em>, reporter Ally Jarmanning digs deeper into the "legitimate" realm of body-parts collecting ⁠— museums ⁠— and asks the burning question: How different is this from the world of Jeremy Pauley in his basement or Ce ... Show More
28m 42s
Jan 2025
Introducing: What Remains from NHPR's Outside/In
<p>Introducing “What Remains,” a special series from NHPR’s <em>Outside/In</em>. A classroom display of human skulls sparks a reckoning at the Penn Museum in Philadelphia. A movement grows to “abolish the collection.” The Penn Museum relents to pressure. But there are more skelet ... Show More
37m 13s
Recommended Episodes
Apr 2024
The Collector & the Fugitive /// Part 1 /// 754
<p>The Collector & the Fugitive /// Part 1 /// 754 </p><p>Part 1 of 2 </p><p><br /> </p><p><a href="http://www.truecrimegarage.com/" target="_blank">www.TrueCrimeGarage.com</a></p><p>Leonard Lake and Charles Ng silently terrorized and collected victims in the greater San Fransisc ... Show More
47m 24s
Oct 6
INFAMOUS: The Murdaugh Family Murders
<p>When Maggie and Paul Murdaugh are killed on their family’s estate in 2021, the investigation unravels a history of privilege, corruption, and suspicious deaths tied to one of South Carolina’s most influential families. But beneath the headlines and courtroom drama are stories ... Show More
56m 1s
Jan 2025
The Stranger (PODCAST EXCLUSIVE EPISODE)
<p>In the fall of 2003, two detectives were in the middle of a year-long homicide case, involving the brutal murder of a 19 year-old girl. And for the first time, they finally felt like they had a viable suspect. But when they pulled up to the suspect’s house to conduct a second ... Show More
36m 31s
Oct 2024
David Fuller: Monster in the Morgue | #369
<p>At first, police thought they were only looking for a double murderer. Nicknamed the ‘Bedsit Killer’ in the press, the suspect’s reputation for savage violence already loomed large in the town of Tunbridge Wells in the late 80s.&nbsp;</p><p>But it was only when they caught Dav ... Show More
1h 7m
May 2025
Conspiracy in Canton - 051
<p>Week 3 (Part 1): The jury gets their first peak inside the investigation from Canton PD, and the SERT team search. Witnesses from 34 Fairview are called, but not the ones everyone expected. Digital data is discussed, and Brennan's approach reveals itself like week old tailligh ... Show More
45m 11s
May 2024
The Collector & the Fugitive /// Part 2 /// 755
<p>The Collector & the Fugitive /// Part 2 /// 755 </p><p>Part 2 of 2 </p><p><br /> </p><p><a href="http://www.truecrimegarage.com/" target="_blank">www.TrueCrimeGarage.com</a></p><p>Leonard Lake and Charles Ng silently terrorized and collected victims in the greater San Fransisc ... Show More
58m 53s
Mar 2025
You Can't Leave That Way (PODCAST EXCLUSIVE EPISODE)
<p>This is a special bonus episode of <strong><em>"You Can't"</em></strong></p><p>Today's story is about a woman who goes missing from a psychiatric hospital in 1900. Now at first, this story will seem like a pretty ordinary missing person case. That is, until you reach the very ... Show More
29m 52s
Oct 6
Dateline Presents: The Last Appeal
<p>Hey Dateline fans! As a bonus for you, we’re sharing a special preview clip of The Last Appeal, an all-new original podcast series from Dateline and Lester Holt. </p><p>In this series, Lester Holt takes listeners inside the urgent case of Robert Roberson, a Texas father set to ... Show More
5m 4s
Sep 19
EP. 216 - PENNSYLVANIA: Hazed To Death: The Murder of Timothy Piazza
In 2017, news of a disturbing crime began to spread across the campus of Pennsylvania State University. A student named Timothy Piazza had been found dead inside of a fraternity house... but what could have possibly happened here? As investigators and the public began to probe in ... Show More
1h 46m
Jan 2019
Introducing Root of Evil
When Elizabeth Short, also known as "The Black Dahlia," was brutally killed in 1947, it gripped the entire country. More than 70 years later, it remains America's most infamous unsolved murder. Many believe Dr. George Hodel was the killer, thanks to an investigation by Hodel's ow ... Show More
4m 44s