Two Iowa neighbors pleaded guilty to misdemeanors after police caught them on video trying to drag a corpse out of an apartment.
Victoria Norton, 62, and Abel Rivas, 65, faced charges of prohibited actions relating to cremation, a misdemeanor. Both pleaded guilty the same day and were ordered to pay $250 in fines and court costs, plus a 15 % crime‑services surcharge.
A criminal complaint obtained by local NBC affiliate KTIV shows surveillance cameras captured Norton and Rivas moving a dead man’s body around Norton’s apartment building in Sioux City, Iowa, at about 5 p.m. on September 19.
Police said the unidentified man died in Norton’s apartment.
The complaint details that the pair hauled the deceased out of Norton’s unit and propped him up in a chair near the elevators. Norton called 911, but when first responders arrived she did not tell the truth about what had happened. Rivas remained silent, offering no details about the circumstances surrounding the death.
Investigators later concluded the man died of natural causes. After learning the findings, Norton admitted the death occurred in her apartment. Authorities have not disclosed any information about Norton’s relationship to the deceased.
Both Norton and Rivas were arrested after being charged, but neither spent time in jail, and neither faced charges connected to the man’s death.
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