Idaho man who hid mother’s dead body while collecting her pension pleads guilty

An Eagle man charged with eight felonies after his mother’s dead body was found in his home — where it had been for at least a year — pleaded guilty to a pair of charges Thursday as part of a deal with prosecutors.

William R. Rhoton, 66, pleaded guilty to concealment of evidence and grand theft by deception. Six other charges, ranging from forgery to evidence destruction, as well as other grand theft counts, were dropped, according to court documents.

Rhoton initially was charged with failing to report a death, and investigators then determined that his mother’s pension and Social Security benefits were deposited into a bank account he controlled. That led to the other charges, prosecutors said.

Rhoton will be sentenced at 9 a.m. April 30, and he faces up to 19 years in prison, according to court documents.

Rhoton was arrested last June after authorities found his mother’s body in an SUV a little over a mile from his home. Eagle police officers and Ada County Sheriff’s Office deputies had served a search warrant and found that the woman’s body had been moved from the house recently. It was not known exactly how long she had been dead, and authorities said that Rhoton had been lying to family members about his mother’s well-being and whereabouts.