Insets (left to right): Victoria Norton and Abel Rivas (Woodbury County Sheriff's Office). Background: The Woodbury County Court Administration building in Sioux City, Iowa (Google Maps).
Two Iowa neighbors pleaded guilty to misdemeanors after police said they were caught on video trying to drag a corpse out of an apartment.
Victoria Norton, 62, and Abel Rivas, 65, were charged on Tuesday with prohibited actions relating to cremation, a misdemeanor. Both Norton and Rivas pleaded guilty the same day and were ordered to pay $250 in fines and court costs, and a crime services surcharge of 15%.
According to a criminal complaint obtained by local NBC affiliate KTIV, Norton and Rivas were caught on surveillance cameras moving a dead man's body around Norton's apartment building in Sioux City, Iowa, around 5 p.m. on Sept. 19.
Police said the man, who was not identified, died in Norton's apartment.
In the complaint, police said Norton and Rivas were captured on video moving the deceased man out of Norton's apartment and propping him up in a chair near the elevators. Norton called 911, and when first responders arrived at the scene, she did not tell the truth about what happened. Rivas did not speak to the first responders or provide any details about the circumstances surrounding the man's death.
Investigators later determined that the man died of natural causes. After Norton was informed about the findings, she admitted that the man died in her apartment. Information about Norton's relationship to the man who died was not made public.
Both Norton and Rivas were arrested after being charged but did not spend time in jail. Neither of them was charged in connection with the man's death.