Woman who stole casket with body inside from Las Vegas funeral home could get probation
LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — A judge could sentence the woman who burglarized a funeral home and removed a casket with a body inside it — dumping the remains in the process — to probation as part of a plea agreement, the 8 News Now Investigators have learned.
Patricia Sierra, 47, originally faced charges including grand larceny, burglary of a business and removing, transforming or disturbing human remains, documents said. Sierra pleaded guilty to one count of burglary as part of an agreement signed Sept. 24.
As part of the plea deal, Sierra could enter Clark County District Court's drug court program and receive probation, documents said. The specialized program requires a defendant to enter treatment, be tracked with electronic monitoring and receive random drug testing,
Should she violate probation, Sierra would have to serve at least a year in prison.
On Aug. 27 around 3 a.m., a person called police to report a body lying face down in front of the Affordable Cremation and Burial Service funeral home on Charleston Boulevard near Rancho Drive. Police said the deceased person arrived at the facility on Aug. 20 and had a viewing the day before the burglary.
Video surveillance from the business showed a woman, whom police later identified as Sierra, breaking a window and unlocking the funeral home's front door, documents said. The video then shows Sierra walking to the viewing room and carrying the casket out the front door. Police said the body in the casket ended up lying in landscaping in front of the business.
"There is an ongoing investigation, so we cannot comment, other than to say an individual was arrested after attempting to burglarize our location," a representative for Affordable Cremation and Burial Service said at the time of Sierra's arrest.
A judge will sentence Sierra on Nov. 5. As always, sentencing is up to a judge's discretion.
