2 plead not guilty in body parts case

Two former employees of a biomedical supply company pleaded not guilty Thursday to collecting bones, skin and tissue from corpses without proper consent.

Kevin Vickers, 53, and Kirssy Knapp, 29, worked at a branch of the now-defunct Biomedical Tissue Services of Fort Lee, N.J. Along with five others _ including two former Biomedical Tissue employees and three funeral directors _ Vickers and Knapp were accused of removing bone and tissue from 36 corpses in 2005 without getting the proper consent.

Four other men, including the company's owner, former dentist Michael Mastromarino, were charged last year with removing bone and tissue from 1,077 bodies at funeral homes without the permission of families. All have pleaded not guilty.

In October, seven funeral home directors linked to the scheme pleaded guilty in New York to undisclosed charges and agreed to cooperate with investigators. They included the director of a funeral home that took parts from the body of "Masterpiece Theatre" host Alistair Cooke, who died in 2004, defense attorneys said.

Biomedical Tissue Services operated its only satellite office in the Rochester suburb of Brighton and paid funeral homes a standard fee of around $1,000 to lawfully harvest body parts.

At the hearing Thursday in Monroe County Court, Vickers and Knapp were released on their own recognizance. Both declined to comment to the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle.