Cover Up: Body Brokers

Cover Up: Body Brokers

Sunset Mesa Funeral Home was a trusted business for bereaved residents in Montrose, Colorado. Director Megan Hess smooth-talked family members and offered steep discounts on cremations for those who donated their bodies to science. But the community was shocked when it learned the ashes in their urns were not those of their loved ones. Investigators discovered customers were being misled as to how their remains would be used. Hess was getting rich in the shadowy world of body dealing. In the backroom, she was dismembering heads and limbs to be illegally sold to medical companies for research.

From Sony Music Entertainment, Campside Media and Black Bar Mitzvah, comes “Cover Up: Body Brokers.” The podcast recounts how Hess and her mother harvested body parts from their funeral home while giving families cremains from a mixed pile of ashes. Host Ashley Fantz talks to investigators, Sunset Mesa employees, and loved ones affected by the scam.

OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "COVER UP: BODY BROKERS" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 11 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.

In Crime of the Week: By any other name.

For exclusive podcasts and more, sign up at Patreon.

Sign up for our newsletter at crimewriterson.com.

This show was recorded in The Caitlin Rogers Project Studio. Click to find out more.


Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Episoder(723)

Murder in Glitterball City

Murder in Glitterball City

After a routine domestic disturbance call at a Louisville home, Jeffrey Mundt and Joey Banis shocked police by revealing a dead body was in their basement. The ex-lovers each accused the other of kill...

2 Mar 47min

Murder at the U

Murder at the U

In 2006, University of Miami football player Bryan Pata was shot outside his apartment coming home from practice. On the ten-year anniversary of the death, police invited ESPN to look into the cold ca...

26 Feb 50min

The Investigation of Lucy Letby

The Investigation of Lucy Letby

In 2016, officials at England’s The Countess of Chester Hospital began an inquest into what was causing a statistically high number of babies in the neonatal unit to die or require resuscitation. They...

23 Feb 48min

Watching You

Watching You

In 2011, Matt Leili told police his wife Nique left their suburban Atlanta home with nothing but her toothbrush a week before her naked body was discovered in the woods. Investigators learned that for...

19 Feb 41min

Secret Mall Apartment

Secret Mall Apartment

Combing passages within the newly-built Providence Place mall, a group of local artists located an unused, overlooked space within the building. They sneaked in furniture and construction supplies, an...

16 Feb 42min

Kidnapped: Elizabeth Smart

Kidnapped: Elizabeth Smart

The brazen kidnapping of 14-year-old Elizabeth Smart from her bedroom captivated the nation. And when their main suspect died in custody, police feared they’d never learn her fate. But Elizabeth was s...

12 Feb 44min

What Happened in Nashville

What Happened in Nashville

Sydney McDowell was preparing for the last steps in her fertility journey. But when she went to Nashville’s Center for Reproductive Health for a final check-up, she learned the clinic was abruptly clo...

9 Feb 47min

Collateral Damage

Collateral Damage

From no-knock warrants and phony police informants to civil forfeiture and international narcotics interdiction, the US war on drugs has affected more than just traffickers. Its highly provocative met...

5 Feb 42min

Populært innen Samfunn

rss-spartsklubben
giver-og-gjengen-vg
aftenpodden
aftenpodden-usa
konspirasjonspodden
lydartikler-fra-aftenposten
rss-nesten-hele-uka-med-lepperod
popradet
rss-henlagt-andy-larsgaard
alt-fortalt
grenselos
wolfgang-wee-uncut
min-barneoppdragelse
synnve-og-vanessa
krisemoter
rss-dannet-uten-piano
fladseth
rss-dette-ma-aldri-skje-igjen
frokostshowet-pa-p5
opptur-med-annette-og-ingeborg