YAVAPAI COUNTY, Ariz. — Walter Harold Mitchell, 61, spent nearly 30 years as a body broker.
On Thursday, the former Seattle man was found guilty by a jury on 29 counts of abandonment or concealment of a dead body in Yavapai County after leaving severed body parts outside Prescott in 2020.
Mitchell owned and operated a business that sold body parts to medical schools and training programs after someone had donated their body to science.
In December 2020, hikers and hunters found the body parts in two separate locations north and west of Prescott. The Yavapai County Sheriff's Office responded and found 24 total human body parts, according to court documents.
Officials said most of the body parts were marked with silver tags and serial numbers, which is an identification system commonly used for donor parts.
Mitchell was renting a freezer space in Washington where he was storing body parts from at least nine donors, officials said. He transported those parts from Washington to Arizona using dry ice.
In Arizona, Mitchell had a padlocked storage shed in Chino Valley with power running to help store the body parts. He later sold the freezer and moved to an apartment in Scottsdale.
Officials say they found evidence at Mitchell's home tying him to the scene and business documents associated with "FutureGenex" and several donor consent forms.
Mitchell later admitted to authorities that he dropped the body parts in late November 2020.
In March 2022, Mitchell was offered a plea deal in the case.
Mitchell's sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 31 in Yavapai County.
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