Insets, from left: Victoria Norton and Abel Rivas, according to the Woodbury County Sheriff’s Office. In the background is the Woodbury County Court Administration building in Sioux City, Iowa, shown via Google Maps.
Two Sioux City neighbors have pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges after authorities said surveillance footage showed them moving a deceased man through an apartment building and placing him in a chair near an elevator.
Victoria Norton, 62, and Abel Rivas, 65, were charged Tuesday with prohibited actions relating to cremation, a misdemeanor offense. Both entered guilty pleas that same day. Each was ordered to pay $250 in fines and court costs, along with a 15% crime services surcharge.
A criminal complaint obtained by local NBC affiliate KTIV states that cameras recorded Norton and Rivas handling the body inside Norton’s Sioux City apartment complex at about 5 p.m. on Sept. 19.
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The man, whose identity has not been released, died inside Norton’s apartment, police said.
According to investigators, video showed the pair remove the man from Norton’s unit and position him in a chair by the elevators. Norton then called 911, but police said she gave first responders a false account of events when they arrived. Rivas did not speak with responders or explain what had led to the man’s death.
Authorities later concluded that the man died from natural causes. After investigators told Norton of that determination, she acknowledged that the death occurred inside her apartment. Officials have not disclosed what relationship, if any, Norton had with the deceased man.
Norton and Rivas were arrested after the charges were filed, but neither spent time in jail. They have not been accused of causing or contributing to the man’s death.
