Doctor Arrested for Creating Human Statues

January 20, 2024

Boulder, CO

On Friday Dr. Elijah Sudema, a geneticist at the University of Colorado Arnoult lab, made his first appearance at the Boulder County Court. Dr. Elijah Sudema was arrested on 14 counts of medical malpractice, reckless endangerment, first-degree assault, first-degree false imprisonment, theft of medical products, stolen property, 4 counts of embezzlement, and 2 counts of real estate fraud.

The arrest of Dr. Sudema on Wednesday followed a year-long investigation into the doctor. The investigation into Dr. Sudema began when the doctor dropped off his former student and lab technician Jessica Lang at Foothills Hospital on December 3, 2023. Dr. Sudema claimed she was suffering from severe frostbite due to the winter storm that had dropped up to three feet of snow across areas of the front range. A subsequent autopsy revealed that Miss Lang had died from complications of fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva.

Further investigation and interviews with Miss Lang’s family revealed that Miss Lang had no prior symptoms of fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva. It was later discovered that Dr. Sudema was creating what he called “living statues” by intentionally infecting his victims with modified gametes triggering the disease in his victims. Investigators found that Dr. Sudema kept four statues for himself, and would sell others on the black market.

In his closing statement at his arraignment, Dr. Sudema stated, "Truly, aren't we all just a mind trapped in a body? Think, what is consciousness? Does it exist beyond the walls of our limited sense of reality?"

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