Woman pleads guilty to helping move central Minnesota man's remains hidden in tote last spring
MILLE LACS COUNTY, Minn. — A 22-year-old woman pleaded guilty Thursday to her role in helping her boyfriend move human remains in central Minnesota last March.
Alexis Elling pleaded guilty to one count of aiding an offender after the fact, according to court documents. Per a plea agreement, Elling will need to testify against her boyfriend, Bradley Weyaus, and complete inpatient treatment.
Weyaus is charged with second-degree murder, fleeing a peace officer and two counts of interference with a dead body or scene of death.
Weyaus was arrested last March after authorities found a tote of human remains on the shoreline of Mille Lacs Lake. The victim was identified as 25-year-old Rodney Pendegayosh Jr., whose family had reported him missing the day before his remains were found.
A driver in a vehicle connected to Weyaus fled a traffic stop shortly after the remains were found, according to a criminal complaint.
The vehicle was found at a rural property in Mille Lacs County. In the car, investigators found a spent shotgun shell, which matched Pendegayosh's wounds. When they searched the property, they found Pendegayosh's ID cut into pieces and bloodstained carpet pieces in the trash, the complaint states.
Investigators found Weyaus hiding on the property and arrested him.
Elling told investigators she did not help Weyaus put Pendegayosh in the tote, but she did know his body was inside it when she helped Weyaus move it.
Elling's sentencing will wait until Weyaus' case is resolved. The plea agreement indicates she will receive a stay of execution of five years in prison and up to five years of supervised probation.
