THE head of a body-snatching ring, responsible for stealing the bones of veteran broadcaster Alistair Cooke, pleaded guilty yesterday after a deal with US prosecutors.

A NURSE has admitted he cut body parts from 244 corpses and helped forge paperwork so the parts, some of them diseased, could be used in unsuspecting patients.

THE man accused of scheming to plunder bodies for parts used in thousands of tissue transplants in the US and Canada is poised to plead guilty.

Three funeral directors sold 244 corpses for $1,000 (€710) each to a New York businessman who trafficked in the resale of often-diseased body parts, a court heard.

Four men have been charged with running a bodysnatching ring that allegedly cut the bones of BBC broadcaster Alistair Cooke from his corpse and sold them for transplants in a plot akin to “a cheap horror movie”, US authorities said today.