More than two weeks after the trial for a metro Detroit man who was dealing cadavers began, the jury has reached a verdict.
Arthur Rathburn, of Grosse Pointe Park, was found guilty on 7 counts of wire fraud, aiding and abetting, which carries a maximum penalty of up to 20 years and a $25,000 fine and one count of illegal transportation of hazardous materials, which carries a maximum penalty of up to 5 years and a $25,000 fine.
He was acquitted of two counts of wire fraud, aiding and abetting, and one count of making false statements.
The jury of 9 women and 3 men deliberated for just 3 1/2 hours after a two week long trial.
As a Detroit cadaver dealer, Rathburn was accused of deliberately buying diseased human bodies with HIV and Hepatitis and selling them to doctors and dentists who thought they were clean.
Prosecutors told jurors in closing arguments, Rathburn bought diseased remains “no one else wanted that he flipped for money.”
The defense told the jury this is not a criminal case but a contractual civil case and they were urged not to decide this on emotion.
Prosecutors said Rathburn’s shabby warehouse on the east side was “filthy, nasty and disgusting.”
During the three week trial jurors were shown pictures similar to ones obtained by the 7 Investigators from sources that showed body parts in beer coolers and a picture of the cutting room where bodies were dismembered.
Prosecutors told jurors that bodies were stockpiled, frozen together, mixed with food, mixed with dead animals, along with pools of blood and piles of insects.
Rathburn was charged with Wire Fraud, False Statements to Investigators and Transportation of Hazardous Materials, 20 years in prison if convicted. He turned down a plea deal before trial that would have been 5 years in prison.
The defense told the jury Rathburn ran a legitimate, lawful and necessary business and he did not have to testify in his own defense. The defense also cautioned jurors not to base their verdict on emotion and on a mental picture of a filthy warehouse with Rathburn wearing a white lab coat spattered in blood using a chain saw to hack up people.
