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2017/12/27 20:39:24
Subject: Fetuses, rotting heads found inside rundown Detroit warehouse
Tune in to the Muckraker Report on 910AM the Superstation from 11-noon Wednesday to hear more about this bizarre story.
The grisly details in the criminal case against a Grosse Pointe Park cadaver dealer, accused of cutting up infected bodies with chainsaws, shipping blood-filled coolers of fresh heads to medical researchers and lying to families about what he did with their loved one’s remains, just took another gruesome and bizarre turn.
Federal agents who raided Arthur Rathburn’s warehouse in Detroit in December 2013 found four preserved fetuses, which appear to be in their second trimester, immersed in a liquid that included human brain tissue, according to confidential photos recently reviewed by Reuters.
Rathburn is accused of defrauding medical researchers and educators by sending them infected body parts, without the families’ consent, from a rundown warehouse that a U.S. district judge said “appears to be the hub of the illegal activity” and is connected to a larger criminal investigation involving other body dealers.
Rathburn, whose body broker business is called International Biological Inc., has pleaded not guilty and is facing a trial in January in a criminal case that, until now, made no mention of fetuses.
Investigators have not indicated whether they know how Rathburn acquired the fetuses or what he planned to do with them.
Rathburn’s attorneys declined to comment.
“This needs to be reviewed,” U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., who recently chaired a special U.S. House committee on the use of fetal tissue, told Reuters.
Four photos from inside the warehouse show a crime scene investigator in a hazmat suit and rubber gloves using forceps to lift a fetus from a dark-colored fluid in a metal drawer. In other photos, a fetus lies alongside a red evidence marker.
The case against Rathburn offers a glimpse inside the largely unregulated, multimillion-dollar industry of buying and selling body parts in America.
In Michigan, like many states, no government agency is responsible for inspecting body broker facilities, which rely heavily on poor people, who donate their bodies in exchange for a free cremation. Rathburn is accused of cremating the torso and keeping the rest of the body – the head, arms, legs, hands, elbows and other parts – for later use or sale.
The sale of fetal tissue for profit is illegal in the U.S.
Others evidence collected during the raid shows rotting, un-embalmed heads soaked in mouthwash and water, human remains washed down the drain and body parts in the garbage.
Some of the bodies that were sent to medical researchers had tested positive for HIV, hepatitis and other infectious diseases.
A human body can fetch tens of thousands of dollars, while brains and arms go for more than $500 each.
Trouble is, body brokers are less regulated than barbers.
Some members of Congress are calling for more regulation and oversight, but the issue hasn’t gained a lot of traction on Capitol Hill.
Motor City Muckraker is an independent watchdog funded by donations. To help us cover more stories like this, please consider a small contribution.
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2017/12/27 21:09:01
Subject: Fetuses, rotting heads found inside rundown Detroit warehouse
Someone should tell Detroit that a car body is different from just a body. I know they have a history of dealing in parts, but I don't think this type will bring the industry back.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2017/12/27 21:09:54
NinthMusketeer wrote: Someone should tell Detroit that a car body is different from just a body. I know they have a history of dealing in parts, but I don't think this type will bring the industry back.
You want Reavers? Because this is how you get Reavers!
I'm back!
2017/12/28 17:19:36
Subject: Fetuses, rotting heads found inside rundown Detroit warehouse
Waiting for my shill money from Spiral Arm Studios
Please tell me this is an Onion story...
Self-proclaimed evil Cat-person. Dues Ex Felines
Cato Sicarius, after force feeding Captain Ventris a copy of the Codex Astartes for having the audacity to play Deathwatch, chokes to death on his own D-baggery after finding Calgar assembling his new Eldar army.
I feel like the thread title kinda buried the lead. I was expecting a much more murderous story
Sorry for my spelling. I'm not a native speaker and a dyslexic.
1750 pts Blood Specters
2000 pts Imperial Fists
6000 pts Disciples of Fate
3500 pts Peridia Prime
2500 pts Prophets of Fate
Lizardmen 3000 points Tlaxcoatl Temple-City
Tomb Kings 1500 points Sekhra (RIP)
2017/12/28 17:50:45
Subject: Fetuses, rotting heads found inside rundown Detroit warehouse
Sgt. Vanden - OOC Hey, that was your doing. I didn't choose to fly in the "Dongerprise'.
"May the odds be ever in your favour"
Hybrid Son Of Oxayotl wrote:
I have no clue how Dakka's moderation work. I expect it involves throwing a lot of d100 and looking at many random tables.
FudgeDumper - It could be that you are just so uncomfortable with the idea of your chapters primarch having his way with a docile tyranid spore cyst, that you must deny they have any feelings at all.
2017/12/29 15:24:12
Subject: Fetuses, rotting heads found inside rundown Detroit warehouse
How can someone live with themselves doing this sort of stuff? You have to be pretty desensitized to run a business where you lie to grieving families, hack up a bunch of rotting corpses and then flush body parts down the drain like they're used motor oil.
Thought for the day: Hope is the first step on the road to disappointment.
30k Ultramarines: 2000 pts
Bolt Action Germans: ~1200 pts
AOS Stormcast: Just starting.
The Empire : ~60-70 models.
1500 pts
: My Salamanders painting blog 16 Infantry and 2 Vehicles done so far!
2017/12/30 16:58:00
Subject: Re:Fetuses, rotting heads found inside rundown Detroit warehouse
TheCustomLime wrote: How can someone live with themselves doing this sort of stuff?
At ten grand a pop, fairly well. At least in theory, you're not actually harming anyone doing this. There are a lot of more lucrative operations you could run where you hurt living people. Dealing drugs, piracy on the high seas, child prostitution, murder for hire, arms dealing, politics...
And, besides, a funeral costs an arm and a leg anyway, so...
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2017/12/30 16:59:06
Fate is in heaven, armor is on the chest, accomplishment is in the feet. - Nagao Kagetora
2017/12/30 23:16:09
Subject: Fetuses, rotting heads found inside rundown Detroit warehouse
Plus, remember, anyone with access to corpses like this does this for a living- it is the grim, mortuary equivalent of stealing office supplies. It is totally shocking to people who do not expect to be handling dead bodies for 8 hours a day, 5 days a week .
For this guy... it probably started with an arm or a leg in a freezer, then a gradual expansion and lack in care of his grim goods until he got to this point.
Klawz-Ramming is a subset of citrus fruit?
Gwar- "And everyone wants a bigger Spleen!"
Mercurial wrote:
I admire your aplomb and instate you as Baron of the Seas and Lord Marshall of Privateers.
Orkeosaurus wrote:Star Trek also said we'd have X-Wings by now. We all see how that prediction turned out.
Orkeosaurus, on homophobia, the nature of homosexuality, and the greatness of George Takei.
English doesn't borrow from other languages. It follows them down dark alleyways and mugs them for loose grammar.
2018/01/02 18:31:16
Subject: Fetuses, rotting heads found inside rundown Detroit warehouse