Man trades five human skulls for a stillborn baby in Minnesota, feds say
A Minnesota man was sentenced to prison after officials said he bought and sold human body parts, including a stillborn baby.
Matthew Lampi, 50, of East Bethel, was sentenced to a year and three months in prison after pleading guilty to interstate transport of stolen human remains, according to a Jan. 3 news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania.
McClatchy News reached out to Lampi’s attorney for comment on Jan. 7 but did not immediately hear back.
According to an indictment, Lampi bought human remains from a Pennsylvania man named Jeremy Pauley. Lampi also sold remains to Pauley and traded with him, officials said.
Pauley got the remains from a woman in Arkansas who worked for a crematory, according to prosecutors.
On Dec. 7, 2021, Pauley told Lampi he had “hearts and brains coming,” according to the indictment. Lampi agreed to pay Pauley $4,000 for three body parts, officials said.
The next day, Pauley sent Lampi a photo of multiple body parts, including four brains, three hearts and a lung, the indictment said.
A few days later, Pauley sent Lampi a photo of a U.S. Postal Service barcode and tracking number and told him he was sending him a brain and heart and would send an arm as soon as it arrived, prosecutors said.
Then, in February 2022, an Arkansas woman gave birth to a stillborn baby boy named Lux, according to officials. She was told the baby would be cremated and she would be given his ashes, the indictment said.
However, the stillborn was sold to Pauley, and the mother was given remains from an unknown origin, the indictment said.
On Feb. 27, 2022, Pauley agreed to trade the stillborn and $1,550 with Lampi for five human skulls, officials said. He then sent Lampi a package through USPS the next day, according to prosecutors.
In March, Pauley was sentenced to two years of probation after pleading guilty to abuse of a corpse, McClatchy News previously reported. The plea came after buckets of human remains were found in his home, officials said.
Pauley is also awaiting sentencing on federal charges out of Pennsylvania.
McClatchy News reached out to Pauley for comment on Jan. 7 but did not immediately hear back.
Lampi was ordered to pay restitution to Lux’s mother in addition to his prison sentence.
Several others have been charged in connection with this investigation, according to officials.
East Bethel is about a 30-mile drive north from Minneapolis.
