The cops were stunned by the hydraulic table and the trap door, by the shocking fact that bones had been removed and replaced with crude plastic pipes. These were only the standard practices of funeral homes and tissue-banking, but they appeared so suspicious to assistant D.A. But some of the tissue he obtained came from people who haddied of AIDS or cancer. "I felt like everything that I had, all the ways I had defined my life, were going to change," she says. "I found out that I was a lot tougher than I might have guessed. He reportedly made $10,000 to $15,000 per body. And when he announced that he wanted to work out of funeral homes, they thought that was an outstanding idea, says Gallucci, and even helped Mastromarino set up a business model.. And he had lawyers at the house talking about all the steps he needed to take, and he just did it all wrong. / CBS News. Earlier this year, the Brooklyn district attorney arrested four men and charged them with swiping, in a frenzy, more than a thousand corpsesincluding that of the well-respected host of Masterpiece Theatre, Alistair Cookeand dismembering them and parceling them out, with little regard for medical precautions, and possibly infecting with untold diseases the multitudes who received the stolen parts. July 8, 2013 / 7:48 PM His lawyer, Joe Tacopina, says of his client, Hes a genuinely really sweet individual who has been demonized because hes the guy who was cutting off the limbs., All of this was quite hard on Mastromarino, according to Gallucci, because he was as shocked as anyone to discover the forgeries. Share Your Memories and Sympathies and Join the Bereaved! He earned between $10,000 and $15,000 per body, and business was booming. Get the best of Fox News' entertainment coverage, right in your inbox. Besides, his renovated home at Waco is now on rent for $350 a night, and he surely earns a great deal from the rent. In the morning, the anonymous neighbor would wake to find plastic garbage bags on the sidewalk, and cats or whatever animals had gotten into it and dragged out surgical gloves, aprons, bloodied cotton swabs. Mastromarino had become a secret drug addict, and he had cheated on Barbra. She found a place in Harlem that advertised the highest quality services at the lowest ratescremations for only $595. And whether that was true or not, the case forced us to look at a world we know little of, brought to the surface everything wed prefer to keep buried. They were a "Ken and Barbie" coupleseemingly perfect to friends and family. I couldnt stop thinking about him, and he obviously couldnt stop thinking about me. The couple had dated for about three years before taking the next step, and Barbra stated on the show that it was like a dream come true for her at the time. Kenny Loggins Is Cutting Loose From Touring. Her preferred method of murder was poison. Families of the body-snatched were horrified to discover what became of their deceased loved ones. 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. Cooke died of cancer in 2004. "When I found out about these women, I was completely enraged and I wanted answers," she says. So, if youre wondering what happened to him since then, weve got you covered. He is 49 years old. When times were good, Karen says it wasn't unusual for her to spend $100,000 a month or more on credit cards. Mastromarino told NPR it was a very lucrative business. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. While it seemed like all was well for him and his family, his secrets soon caught up to him. ", 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. And Mastromarino was not oblivious to this. The case has yet to go to trial, but so far there have been no confirmed instances of infection from tissue harvested by Mastromarinos company. The high demand for organs has created a market and the opportunity for criminals. Legal Statement. So we would pack something in there, just so rolling this body out, they wouldnt leave a trail of blood and body parts across the street.. As NPR wrote last year in our series: You can't sell body parts, the law is clear about that. 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. Then he removed the tissue and faked paperwork that showed he had obtained consent. Michael est n en septembre 1963 Brooklyn, New York. Mastromarinos second fall was set in motion when Nicelli sold the Daniel George, and the new owners ushered the cops into the secret room of horrors. (Photo courtesy of Barbra Reifel. On July 7, 2013, the 49-year-old died because of complications resulting from metastatic liver cancer and bone cancer. Even Cruceta, in his attempt to defend himself, abandoned the doctor, claiming to be just the brawn to Mastromarinos brains, an unwitting pawn in the alleged grave-robbing ring. I thought he was a great guy.. Nearly every part of a corpse can now be put to use. And on that score, Mastromarino was correct. Love, Honor, Betray on ID is investigating the crimes of Michael Mastromarino, a former dentist, who became known as the Bodysnatcher because he was illegally selling tissue from dead bodies that he had harvested in the New York area. A procurement team takes the body parts. Barbra still appears to live in New York and works as a marketing executive now. Im Broke and Mostly Friendless and Ive Wasted My Whole Life, Both Sides of a Breakup: He Never Wanted to Go Dancing. The need to increase the number of transplants, says the AATB, is the responsibility of us all.. He would have been just horrified. So many people have come to me [over the years] and said, Barbra, I dont even know if I could do what you did. But Dr. Mastromarino harvested organs and tissue from bodies without consent from the survivors, the authorities said, and removed material from people with cancer, H.I.V. I dont think the Brooklyn D.A.s office understands what the industry is, Gallucci concluded. A new low in Santoss long history of alleged scams. I saw him rise above and I didnt realize he was just digging a deeper hole. Westerleigh residents Michael Mastromarino, 36 and Robert Brown, 33, were the same-sex second couple -- and the first men -- to wed on Staten Island. He ultimately formed a business named Biomedical Tissue Services, and he reportedly made between $10,000 to $15,000 per body. On top of ignoring other standards, Mastromarinos company had, it seemed, completely bypassed the hurdle of consent. I dont even know if Id had the strength. I said, If you went through it, I bet youd find out.. The accused came out in shackles like characters from Dickens. Before the headlines, Reifel, now 53, said she was captivated by Mastromarino. Mastro Marino pleads guilty to "stealing corpses". A woman who wouldnt give her name described a sort of factory on overloadvans parking around back at all hours of the night, the workers, as they unloaded, often leaving a corpse or two on the sidewalk. There's a facility fee. He seemed to Cruceta a very smart person, self-made. Everyone, in fact, seemed like normal business people, and it seemed a perfectly normal business to be getting paid by the corpse. He was 75. He and Reifel agreed to pat $4.6 million to the district attorneys office, which would be distributed among the victims relatives. This week on Reasonable Doubt, the team takes on the Raul and Cathy Sarinana were sentenced to death for abusing Would love your thoughts, please comment. Iris Carreras covers crime for CBSNews.com, First published on July 8, 2013 / 7:48 PM. Black Friday, Cyber Monday and now #GivingTuesday, Fine art from an iPhone? If You Cant Trust Your Own Doctor, Who Can YouTrust? The membrane around the heart can reupholster the brain after neurosurgery, and the membrane around the muscles of the thigh can sling up sagging bladders to control incontinence. What should he do? Screen Shot 2013-07-08 at 4.30.52 PM.png. 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. Mastromarino, an oral surgeon, ran a private company called Biomedical Tissue Services, which made millions of dollars. Corpses were not supposed to be too old or too diseased, and every body had to be harvested within 24 hours15 if uncooledand in the most sterile conditions. The police later found surgical gloves and other things sewn up in the bodies as well, but Cruceta vows he never did any such thing. He was at St. Lukes Cornwall Hospital in Newburgh, New York, and was still serving his sentence at the time. [But] when you love someone, you want to believe them.. Dr. Michael Mastromarino died Sunday after battling liver and bone cancers. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. SOMERVILLE - John Joseph Mastromarino died Thursday, October 23, 2014 at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital at Somerset. He then forged paperwork, including consent forms and death certificates, to make the cause of death and age acceptable. Little did Barbra know, the worst was yet to come. I knew he was harvesting human remains for his new profession, Reifel explained. The funeral directors were tripping over themselves to get their $1,000 fee. His victim's included "Masterpiece Theatre" host Alistair Cooke. By Kate Willson, Vlad Lavrov, Martina Keller and Michael Hudson. Mastromarino's company, Biomedical Tissue Services, reportedly sold parts to about 10,000 unsuspecting patients. Moms and Mysteries: A True Crime Podcast. Mastromarino would meet with them behind a closed door and otherwise typically sat, behind a closed door, doing paperwork. View Joseph Allen Mastromarino's obituary, send flowers and find service dates or sign the guestbook. "He had a syringe in his arm.". Thats the way I saw it. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. CREATIVE. She had prayed over many of them and had counseled parishioners never to cherish a corpse but to view it only as the empty vessel, a rather worthless item. The lifelong borough residents have been . Mastromarino pleaded guilty to "body stealing." In 2008, he was sentenced to up to 58 years in prison. They worked mostly inI dont know how to say this poor areas: Harlem, the Bronx, Newark, Philadelphia. Julie says she ignored warning signs for 16 years and rarely questioned her husband, a man she describes as a loving father with a big personality. Michael Mastromarino started his career as a successful dentist and later forayed into the tissue harvesting business. Michael Mastromarino, 49, was the mastermind behind an illegal and profitable business from 2001-2005 that harvested corpses. TED BUNDY SURVIVORS RECALL SERIAL KILLER'S BRUTALITY ON 'DR. In 2002, the same year he was sanctioned for practicing dentistry with a suspended license, Mastromarino got his tissue-harvesting license from the New York State Department of Health and began working for RTI. For spinal fusions and the repair of fractures, bone is in greatest demand, but veins may be used for bypass in heart surgery. (Photo courtesy of Barbra Reifel. 2013 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. Michael Mastromarino, a former dental surgeon who was charged with running an illegal enterprise that took body parts from corpses to sell them for profit, died at the age of 49 from liver cancer. He and his crew of organ and tissue harvesters set up a vast network to collect and sell as much bio material as they could find. Join the newsletter to get updates monthly straight to your email, and win one of 10 free books. 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. And collagen can fill wrinkles, plump lips, revive youthful appearance. Michael eventually pled guilty to body stealing, forgery, grand larceny and corruption. Among his contacts was one of the largest tissue banks in the country, a company that trades on nasdaq under the name RTIX and that manufactures, from a factory in Alachua, Florida, all sorts of useful spare parts, including the BioSet Demineralized Bone Matrix (DBM), the patented MD-Series threaded bone dowels, Osteofil/Regenafil injectable bone paste, as well as a number of cortical bone pins and interference screws.. 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 homes and sold them for transplants and research, died on Sunday at St. Lukes Cornwall Hospital in Newburgh, N.Y. He is survived by two sons Michael and Jerry . In . Michael Kerr Mastromarino, 66, died Sept. 2, 2011, at Martin Memorial Medical Center in Stuart. It was my choice to stay and try to make this family work. less than 2 min read. Is Brian Cox Allowed to Be Saying All This? 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 . Investigation Discovery's ' Love, Honor, Betray: Under Your Skin' has Michael's now ex-wife, Barbra, and their two sons share their experiences when they learned of his operations. 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. Barbra seemed to have it all, but over time, her husband's perfect faade began to crack. But Mastromarino didn't get a family's permission. Michael Mastro is North America's leading expert of Vastu for over 40 years and has used Vastu for his clients worldwide to align their home and workspaces. 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