Worker in Body Parts Scandal Found Dead

An employee in UCLA’s willed body program, who was put on leave after admitting to lawyers that he helped in the misuse of donated cadavers, was found dead in a possible suicide at his Studio City apartment, the county coroner’s office said Monday.

Keith Lewis, 47, was found Friday on the floor of the bathroom at his apartment in the 12300 block of Moorpark Street, said David Campbell, coroner’s spokesman.

“He was reported to have sustained a possible overdose,” Campbell said. “He may have been depressed over loss of a job.”

Lewis, who was placed on leave from UCLA when the cadaver scandal broke in March, recently had been working at an auto garage, Campbell said. Lewis was absent from work for three days starting July 6.

“Apparently he had failed to show up for work, and an employer requested [that police check on him],” Campbell said.

About 5 p.m. Friday, officers were called to Lewis’ apartment, where they found him dead.

Police said Lewis might have accidentally killed himself.

“He was a little depressed,” said Det. Mike Coffey of the Los Angeles Police Department’s North Hollywood Division. “Somebody said that he was having problems and he drank a little bit.”

Lewis’ former boss, who headed the Willed Body Program, and a second man were arrested earlier this year by authorities who allege that they sold for profit body parts that had been donated to the program.

Lewis was not arrested or charged with any crime.

Louis Marlin, an attorney representing UCLA, said, “I think it’s an absolute tragedy that Mr. Lewis has passed away for any reason, and we feel deep sadness for his family.”

Campbell said the coroner’s office would give a cause of death after an examination and toxicology report.