Human skull found on man’s shelf during medical call, officials say. Now he’s charged
A man has been charged after cops found a human skull sitting atop his bookshelf during a medical call, according to Utah officials.
The 60-year-old Cedar City man was charged on Tuesday, Aug. 8, with the abuse or desecration of a dead human body, a third-degree felony, Deputy Iron County Attorney Trajan Evans told McClatchy News. In the state of Utah, it is illegal to disturb, move, remove, conceal or destroy any part of a dead human body.
If convicted, the man could potentially face up to five years in prison, according to Evans.
The skull, which has been seized, is estimated to be several hundred years old, Evans said, adding that further testing is being done to determine its exact age.
Skull’s discovery
While an Iron County Sheriff’s Department deputy was at the man’s residence for a medical call, he noticed what looked like a human skull sitting on a bookshelf in his living room, according to a search warrant affidavit.
The deputy pointed out the skull, and the man’s roommate said he “has owned this human skull for as long as she has known him,” the affidavit says. The woman went on to tell the deputy the man “talks to the skull calling it by the name of Alexia.”
When questioned at a hospital, the affidavit says the man told authorities the skull was gifted to him as a child at the age of 9 or 10, and he has had it on display at his various homes ever since.
The man said “he believes it came from the Catacombs under the city of London in England,” the affidavit says.
However, the man did not have documentation or other proof to support his claim, according to the affidavit.
For now, the skull is being kept as evidence until the case is resolved, according to Evans.
What ultimately happens to the skull “depends on the outcome of the case,” Evans said.
“It is a little too early to say what exactly will happen,” Evans said.
Cedar City is located in southern Utah, about 250 miles southwest of Salt Lake City.
This story was originally published August 10, 2023 at 12:20 PM with the headline "Human skull found on man’s shelf during medical call, officials say. Now he’s charged."
