14 DAY TRIAL // A 21-year-old man from Indianapolis broke into Indiana's Medical History Museum several times to steal jars containing human remains, and then sell them on eBay. The thief, called David Charles, was caught after stupidly forgetting to remove the museum's label from the items he sold.
One buyer noticed that the jars he just paid hundreds of dollars for were labeled by the museum and decided to call officials and tell them about his findings. The customer bought six jars of human brain tissue with almost $600 (€440), and after noticing the markings on the containers, he decided to call the museum and check the facts.
The alerted buyer told officials that he usually bought this kind of stuff because he liked collecting strange things, but that in no case he would accept stolen items. The thief stole the human tissue and then sold it to another person for cash, the second handler would post them on eBay and sell them across the country, notes Daily Mail.
Indiana's Medical History Museum reported several break-ins at its storage facility in the last few months and, after investigation, it was proved David Charles was behind at least some of them. Charles had stolen almost 60 jars of human tissue from the museum in just one day and in order to apprehend him, police officers contacted his eBay seller and set him a trap.
Charles agreed to meet with his seller in a parking lot, unaware of the fact that officers were waiting to take him down. The brain tissue thief was caught and charged with theft, marijuana possession, and paraphernalia possession. A big part of the stolen items are being returned to the museum.
The Medical History Museum holds an incredible collection of human tissue as it used to be a state hospital. Most part of the tissues belongs to patients who suffered from mental disorders and psychiatric issues from the 1890s until the 1940s and whose post-autopsy remains were stored at the facility.