A depraved Pennsylvania man squirreled away a sickening trove of more than 100 human skulls as well as infant remains, mummified feet and rotting corpses, police say.
Jonathan Gerlach’s home was “a horror movie come to life,” authorities say according to NBC News.
Jonathan Gerlach / Facebook
The 34-year-old is accused of robbing dozens of graves in a historic cemetery near Philadelphia, even rappelling into mausoleums and prying open underground vaults before making off with a cornucopia of body parts.
The alleged tomb raider has been charged with 300 counts of theft, receiving stolen property and abuse of a corpse.
NBC10 Philadelphia
Gerlach was caught after repeated break-ins at the Mount Moriah Cemetery in Yeadon. In early November, the volunteer group that maintains the final resting place for thousands alerted police about extensive damage to a mausoleum.
Multiple other graves were reported desecrated and robbed over the next two months.
In December, investigators received a tip alleging a partially decomposed corpse was hanging in Gerlach’s basement and that the death merchant had been “in Chicago selling a human skull,” per 6ABC.
NBC10 Philadelphia
They also discovered he’d posted in an online “Human Bones and Skull selling group.” One of his apparent customers thanked him for mailing “a possible teen” and “a baboon and a monkey.”
The accused corpse klepto was arrested on Jan. 6 when he was spotted leaving Mount Moriah with a burlap bag and a crowbar, according to the probable cause affidavit. Officers allege bones and skulls were visible in his vehicle.
NBC10 Philadelphia
After obtaining search warrants for his Lancaster County home and a storage unit, investigators discovered what they believe are dozens of sets of human remains, as well as ashes, jewelry and clothing also believed stolen from graves.
“In my 30-year career, [this was] probably one of the most horrific things,” said Yeadon Borough Police Chief Henry Giammarco. “There was an infant, and unfortunately, to see that being a father and a grandfather, it truly tears your heart up.”
Gerlach is being held in lieu of $1 million cash bail.
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