Man arrested for selling human skull

Dave Brooks

A Huntington Beach man was arrested last Thursday for selling a

200-year-old skull of a native Hawaiian on eBay.

Jerry David Hasson, 55, will be summoned to federal court in Los

Angeles in the next few weeks to face charges of violating the

Archeological Resources Protection Act, which makes it a crime to

steal or sell certain Native American artifacts. Hasson’s case is

being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s office, and he could face up

to five years in prison or a $250,000 fine.

“How would you feel if somebody went to your grandparents

gravesite and dug them up,” U.S. Attorney’s spokesperson Thom Mrozek

said. “There are special archeological laws that protect these

gravesites.”

Hasson sold the skull to an undercover federal agent with the

Bureau of Indian Affairs in February for the amount of $2,500 in a

complicated transaction. The auction had drawn the ire of several

Hawaiian tribes who demanded Hasson pull the sale and return the

skull to its native Kaanapali Beach in Maui for reburial.

Hasson said he first discovered the skull in the summer of 1969

after stumbling on a guarded excavation site with friend Frasier

Heston, son of actor Charlton Heston, according to the federal

affidavit.

“Being a teenager, I along with some friends decided to sneak over

late one night and see what we could find,” Hasson wrote on his eBay

ad. “While digging in the sand, we began to uncover an entire

skeleton and, of course, I decided to keep the skull. For the last 35

years I’ve kept this 200-year-old Hawaiian Warrior as a souvenir of

my youth, but now it’s time to give him up to the highest bidder.”

Hasson could not be reached for comment.

Forensic scientist Michael Pietrusewsky of the University of

Hawaii, confirmed for authorities that the skull did belong to a

Hawaiian female, but she was not likely a warrior as Hasson had

claimed on his ad.

The skull belonged to a 50-year-old female, which rules out the

chances that the person was a warrior, Pietrusewsky said.

“Logical deduction concludes that she was unlikely a warrior since

all the warriors who fought were men,” he said. “And a warrior would

not be buried in a common burial ground. People with elite status

would be buried in a very secretive place that you would never be

able to find.”

The sale of the skull enraged members of a native Hawaiian

ancestors group, who contacted authorities, according to a federal

affidavit.

After pressure from the group, Hasson pulled the item from eBay

but continued to attempt to sell the skull and was contacted by

undercover agent John Fryar. Hasson eventually agreed to sell the

skull to Fryar, but instructed him that there might be a legal

problems related to the transaction. Hasson proposed that he would

present the skull as a “gift” to Fryer if he purchased a collector’s

edition of a comic book fanzine.

On Feb. 12 the agent sent Hasson a cashiers check for $2,500 and

six days later received the skull via Federal Express at his office

in New Mexico.

About a dozen human skulls are currently being auctioned on eBay,

usually selling for an average $350.

Hasson has not sold an item on the website since March. His user

profile records show that his last transaction appeared to be in July

when he bought a case of 1,000 expired condoms for about $50.