Body snatching is the illicit removal of corpses from graves, morgues and other burial sites, historically for sale to medical schools for dissection or anatomy teaching. It is distinct from grave robbery, since grave robbing takes goods from the burial site itself rather than the corpse. The practice is most closely associated with the United Kingdom and United States in the seventeenth through nineteenth centuries, when those who removed bodies for profit were known as resurrectionists or resurrection men and often worked in teams targeting freshly filled graves, though documented cases go back centuries earlier and a small number of modern instances have also been recorded.
Facts
Elements of OffenseHistorically, English law held that a corpse was not property and therefore could not itself be bought, sold, or stolen, so body snatchers were typically prosecuted for theft of associated items such as grave clothes. 2 Notable ExampleIn one documented case, a husband and wife were punished for the theft of grave clothes taken during a body snatching incident. 2 Classification
Offense GradeMinor or Summary Offense 1 Sources
1. Body Snatching (Wikipedia)
WikipediaLead paragraph, Body snatchingQuote, Lead paragraph, Body snatching
Body snatching is the illicit removal of corpses from graves, morgues, and other burial sites.
2. Body Snatching (Encyclopedia.com)
Page body, case example
A husband and wife, for example, were transported for the theft of grave clothes.
Page body, legal status section
In law, the body did not constitute property and could therefore neither be bought, sold, or stolen.
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