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Ex-doctor arrested in human body parts probe
Source: Agencies |
September 10, 2012, Monday
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A FORMER US medical examiner has been arrested on charges of keeping human remains in a rented storage unit in the Florida Panhandle.
Michael Berkland, 57, was arrested on Friday on charges of improper storage of hazardous waste, keeping a public nuisance and driving with a suspended license. He was released from jail on US$10,000 bail.
State Attorney Bill Eddins said more charges may be filed.
Crudely preserved brains, hearts, lungs and other organs and specimens were discovered in more than 100 containers last month in a Pensacola storage unit that Berkland had rented for about three years. The unit was auctioned off after Berkland defaulted on his payments, according to an arrest affidavit.
Berkland had declared the contents to be household goods, furniture, boxes, sporting goods and landscaping equipment. A man who bought the unit's contents discovered the human organs after becoming overpowered by a strange smell while sifting through the items, authorities said.
Ten cardboard boxes stacked in a corner of the unit contained "numerous individual containers with ... human remains stored in a liquid substance," according to the affidavit.
Most of the containers were labeled. About half the containers were medical grade and the other half included soda cups and plastic food containers, the affidavit said. There were also whole organs, including hearts, brains, a liver and a lung.
The organs were stored in a liquid solution containing formaldehyde and methyl alcohol, authorities said.
Michael Berkland, 57, was arrested on Friday on charges of improper storage of hazardous waste, keeping a public nuisance and driving with a suspended license. He was released from jail on US$10,000 bail.
State Attorney Bill Eddins said more charges may be filed.
Crudely preserved brains, hearts, lungs and other organs and specimens were discovered in more than 100 containers last month in a Pensacola storage unit that Berkland had rented for about three years. The unit was auctioned off after Berkland defaulted on his payments, according to an arrest affidavit.
Berkland had declared the contents to be household goods, furniture, boxes, sporting goods and landscaping equipment. A man who bought the unit's contents discovered the human organs after becoming overpowered by a strange smell while sifting through the items, authorities said.
Ten cardboard boxes stacked in a corner of the unit contained "numerous individual containers with ... human remains stored in a liquid substance," according to the affidavit.
Most of the containers were labeled. About half the containers were medical grade and the other half included soda cups and plastic food containers, the affidavit said. There were also whole organs, including hearts, brains, a liver and a lung.
The organs were stored in a liquid solution containing formaldehyde and methyl alcohol, authorities said.
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