21-year old Indianapolis man named David Charles has been charged with stealing 60 jars of brain samples and human tissues of dead mental patients from a museum.
Authorities reported that the theft happened in early October at the warehouse space of the Indiana Medical History Museum. They said that Charles sold the brain samples and human tissues with the help of a middleman on eBay despite the website having strong restrictions against selling "humans, the human body, or any human body parts or products", which also included Tibetan prayer skulls, bones, blood, sperm and other fluids.
Charles' theft began to reveal itself when museum director Mary Ellen Hennessey Nottage got a call from a man who allegedly bought "six jars of brain matter" for $600 on eBay. The caller suspected that the brain matters matched the ones stolen from the museum when he compared them. Nottage quickly notified the police.
The museum director further explains that the Californian man she received a call from was an avid fan of collecting oddities. She later on explains that what he has are the stolen brain matters that belonged to the museum, which were taken from autopsies of dead mental patients in the now-closed Central Indiana Hospital for the Insane in the 1890s.
Charles was arrested December 16 for felony charges, according to the official court papers Thursday (January 2). He is due to appear in court later on this month on charges of stealing brain matter and human tissues that are valued at $4,800. He is also charged with possession of marijuana and paraphernalia, among others.
"Apparently that's a trend that's building -- the macabre, the oddities," Nottage explains and continues, "The television reality show 'Oddities' illustrates that very well. I think it's indicative of people's collecting interests. It's definitely bizarre. It's infuriating that they do not have respect for the human remains."
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