Former dental surgeon Michael Mastromarinowas nicknamed body snatcher by the tabloids after he was charged with stealing tissue and bone from more than 1,000 corpses that sold for transplant and research. Families of the body-snatched were horrified to discover what became of their deceased loved ones. His attorney, Mario Gallucci, told reporters that Mastromarino had been diagnosed in October with a metastatic liver cancer that had spread to his brain and bones. Nate Bargatze Will Greet the World in New Amazon Special. On January 8, 2010, Michael Mastromarino's now ex-wife Barbra Mastromarino appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show in a segment "Husbands' Secret Lives" [19] and discussed the effect of the actions on her life and their sons' lives. He then created the company known as Biomedical Tissue Services which flourished into a $4.6 million dollar company. But that perfect life soon went downhill when Barbra found out about Michaels drug addiction. Michael est n en septembre 1963 Brooklyn, New York. This is the second installment in an International Consortium of Investigative Journalists series. A large part of his legacy will be a series of books about the art and life of his wife, Lisa, and his son, Michael. Reifel said despite the media scrutiny, she remained focusing on raising her two sons. The temptations and hazards of harvesting from funeral homes are all rather obvious, and yet the government had allowed it there, the tissue companies had bought from there, and no one had inspected vigorously enough to catch the violations. [1] Of the numerous companies who purchased the illegally obtained body parts, or tissue, none had ever contacted the family member listed on the deceased consent forms to verify the consent, or even that the consenting person listed actually existed. Whatever they say, ultimately the tissue-bank director is responsible.. The Body Snatcher: Michael Mastromarino Episode aired Feb 25, 2009 YOUR RATING Rate Documentary Crime Add a plot in your language Star Stacy Keach (voice) See production, box office & company info Add to Watchlist Photos Add photo Top cast Edit Stacy Keach Narrator (voice) All cast & crew Production, box office & more at IMDbPro Storyline ", CHRISTIAN ANDREACCHIOS MOTHER CLAIMS SON WARNED HER TO COME LOOKING BEFORE HIS DEATH: PODCAST, Barbra and Michael were nicknamed "Ken and Barbie" by their loved ones. stepmother Jeannette Mastromarino, his son Joseph Mastromarino, Jr., daughter Carly Mastromarino, 3 step-children Karen, Matthew, and Michael Burson, and his brothers Lawrence, Anthony, James, Charles, Christopher Mastromarino, and David . Cruceta understood that for allowing the harvest of their loved ones, families were supposed to receive some sort of financial benefitan upgraded casket, a discounted cremationbut whether they ever did, he doesnt know. Prior to his retirement in 1996, he was a telecommunications manager for 30 years. When youre in a marriage and youre so in love with someone, you always want to see the best in them, she explained. Michael Mastromarino, who made millions by harvesting skin and bones from corpses, died at St. Luke's Hospital Sunday morning, a state Corrections Department spokeswoman said, according to the Daily News. If there was anything good in the news, says the AATBs Rigney, it was that Mastromarinos company was dealing with AATB-accredited banks, and so the tissue was treated. Alistair Cookes bones had been shipped to RTI, and RTI has BioCleanse, which the company claims is the only tissue-sterilization process that eliminates viruses, bacteria, fungi and spores from tissue without compromising the structural or biomechanical properties., Entering the automated multi-step cleansing process, bones are vacuumed clean of all blood, lipids and marrow. Chemical sterilants then completely penetrate the bone to eliminate pathogenic organisms including HIV, hepatitis B and C The final step removes germicides, leaving the tissue biocompatible and consistently white., Cooke and the others, emerging from that, would be nothing to fear. "I started yelling, 'Michael, Michael! He bought a mansion in New Jersey and installed heaters under the driveway so he wouldnt have to shovel snow in the winter. As NPR wrote last year in our series: You can't sell body parts, the law is clear about that. Since he was in prison, I was worried. He had actually come for the bodythat pale, wizened, cancer-ridden cadaver of a 95-year-old Englishman, stretched out now beneath the light in the embalming room. "It was my wake-up call that there wasn't going to be any sympathy for me. Doctors told Julie her husband was dead. Mastromarinos wealth skyrocketed, and he was soon living in a New Jersey mansion where he installed heaters under his driveway so he didnt have to shovel snow during winter, NPR reported. Obvious cancer. In those cases, he would stop, he saidjust box them up and go home. 500+ service trucks on the road. This email will be used to sign into all New York sites. . Find an Advisor or call us now at 1-888-467-5419 About this Advisor Copyright 2023 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. And because he had such a brilliant, keen mind, it was dangerous. July 25, 2013. Veins can be used for heart bypass operations or a tendon could be used to repair a torn knee ligament, for example. OZ': MOST OF MY BONES WERE BROKEN IN MY FACE, Barbra Reifel and her sons. Alistair Cooke, the host of the PBS series Masterpiece Theatre, was one of the victims. Qui tait Michael Mastromarino ? "What was done to our father cannot be undone," she says. Cruceta got to use a power tool when harvesting spine. Michael Mastromarino, who made millions by harvesting skin and bones from corpses, died at St. Luke's Hospital Sunday morning, a state Corrections Department spokeswoman said, according to the. / CBS News. Then he would sometimes leave and go to the funeral home My husband would tell me, Just tell everybody Im in research.. It was the giant washing machine at the end of the conveyor belt that allowed people to be recycledthe dead to return to life, and the living to depend on the dead. Her preferred method of murder was poison. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google [citation needed], Other patients who received BTS-derived tissue and body parts include a Colorado woman who had to repeat her ACL replacement surgery after her first BTS tendon failed, an Ohio woman who developed syphilis after receiving a bone from BTS, and an Ohio man who developed both HIV and hepatitis C after receiving BTS bone implants in surgery.[18]. He was at St. Lukes Cornwall Hospital in Newburgh, New York, and was still serving his sentence at the time. But before this came to light, Michael seemed to lead the perfect life, living in a beautiful house in Fort Lee, New Jersey, with his wife and two sons. Murder Dictionary. They had a contract to supply RTI with long bones, Cruceta says. Moms and Mysteries: A True Crime Podcast. NPR's 2012 series on human tissue donation looked at this global industry. He was just a strong, silent, amazing presence. he wanted to know. 2023 Cinemaholic Inc. All rights reserved. Mastromarino pleaded guilty to "body stealing." Michael Mastromarino worked as an Instructional Support Assistant for Suny Maritime College and in 2016 had a reported pay of $49,936. Cruceta was doing up to 25 harvests a month and making $200 to $300 a harvest, plus salary. But what Mastromarino did was outrageous. He's serving 25 to 75 years in prison for his crimes, but for people like Karen DelRe, time will never heal the pain these crimes caused. If a viewing was scheduled, they took only the legs, sawing them off just below the hip and just above the foot. Investigation Discoverys Love, Honor, Betray: Under Your Skin has Michaels now ex-wife, Barbra, and their two sons share their experiences when they learned of his operations. (Photo courtesy of Barbra Reifel. "I felt like everything that I had, all the ways I had defined my life, were going to change," she says. EXCLUSIVE: 'Body snatcher' Michael Mastromarino dying of bone cancer in prison after making millions from illicitly harvesting corpses. [citation needed] According to government witnesses, BTS sought business relationships with a number of funeral homes in New York and Pennsylvania solely to obtain access to recently deceased people, often paying the funeral homes $1,000 or more per corpse. Michael Mastromarino, a former dental surgeon who became a tabloid sensation when he was charged with running a $4.6 million enterprise that plundered tissue and bone from corpses at funeral. However, trouble soon caught up to him when he was sued several times by patients for malpractice. But I thought it was entirely legal. He should have been executed right, I am Franks cousin (mothers side) - every time I, What sickens me about this case was that Marilyn was. Cruceta was making $185,000 a year. One of Mastromarinos customers, LifeCell, claimed that its own safeguards had uncovered the scam. Michael's residency is at 21 Nye Rd, Glastonbury, CT. Associated persons to this address are Jane Mastromarino and Philip A Pizzanello. During the broadcast, Barbra Mastromarino also listened to and apologized to the daughter of a victim of her husband's crimes, while mentioning she had no knowledge of her husband's illegal acts. In July 2013, Mastromarino died in prison from bone and liver cancer. The American Association of Tissue Banks calls it a medical revolution, but here is the sad part: Many people who need transplants cannot get them because there simply are not enough to go arounda mere 25,000 donors a year to supply more than a million tissue transplants. Powered by WordPress.com VIP. and has penned the memoir 'The Body Snatcher's Wife.'. We were heartbroken to learn of his passing but even more saddened by his loss. Reifel said she eventually spoke to Cookes daughter Susan Cooke Kittredge during an appearance with Nancy Grace. AP file June 12, 2006,. But the consequences were immediately clear: pure terror. When times were good, Karen says it wasn't unusual for her to spend $100,000 a month or more on credit cards. Karen's 74-year-old father, James, was one of Michael's victims. The case for organs is generally more compelling than the need for collagen and the like; families often answer no, which keeps supplies low and prices high. "And the gorilla is how much money everybody's making. And he said, 'Good, because if you are, you need to move your car for another,'" she says. l'poque, il tait un dentiste recherch et menait une vie confortable avec sa femme et ses deux fils Fort Lee, dans le New Jersey. [5] BTS sold its products to five companies; two of the companies were Life Cell Corporation, of New Jersey, and Regeneration Technologies, of Florida. He further lied by failing to cite when the deceased had died from AIDS or cancer; instead, he would state a different cause of death on the paperwork, which would allow the use of the tissue. , ultimately the tissue-bank director is responsible a strong, silent, amazing presence the home! 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