Kansas man accused of scamming people out of $1.1 million for autopsies to plead guilty
A Kansas man who is accused of scamming people out of more than $1 million for performing autopsies he never did plans to plead guilty on federal fraud charges.
Shawn Parcells, a self-taught pathologist from Leawood, Kansas, filed a notice of intent to change his plea Tuesday in federal court in Topeka. He is scheduled to appear for a change of plea hearing March 3.
David Magariel, Parcells’ attorney, declined to comment.
A federal grand jury indicted Parcells on 10 counts of wire fraud in November 2020. Parcells created his business, National Autopsy Services, LLC in 2016, according to the indictment. He had previously worked as a pathologists’ assistant for the Jackson County Medical Examiner’s office before starting his business. Parcells never received a board certification to become a pathologists’ assistant.
Through his business, which said on its website it was headquartered in Topeka, Parcells claimed to offer private autopsies, forensic pathology services and tissue recovery services for families, attorneys and other research institutions.
Between 2016 and 2019, Parcells allegedly received fees from 375 clients to perform autopsies, totaling more than $1.1 million. Prosecutors say Parcells told clients their cases would be handled by a pathologist and included the name of a licensed pathologist on reports given to families.
But no licensed pathologist worked on any of the cases. Though Parcells allegedly claimed to need 90 to 180 days to complete autopsies he often never sent reports. Prosecutors say he delayed complaints from clients by telling them he needed additional information to finish a case when he had “no intention or ability to complete the case.”
This is not the first time Parcells has been in trouble because of services he has provided.
In 2019, a Shawnee County district judge temporarily banned Parcells and his companies from conducting autopsies, forensic pathology and tissue recovery until a lawsuit alleging violations of Kansas’ consumer protection and false claims acts was resolved.
In November 2021, he was convicted of three misdemeanor counts of criminal desecration and three felony counts of theft in Wabaunsee County. The case was prosecuted by the Kansas Attorney General’s Office.
Parcells made national news in 2014 after he helped with the private autopsy of Michael Brown, who was killed by police in Ferguson, Missouri. In 2013, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that some Missouri medical examiners questioned whether he had a medical license, inflated his qualifications and listed doctors who weren’t present at autopsies on reports.
CNN also did an investigation into Parcells where it found that he had lied about some of his credentials. Parcells told the network that he was an adjunct professor at Washburn University. A spokeswoman for the university told CNN he had never been a faculty member.
This story was originally published February 2, 2022 at 3:51 PM.
