Man accused of killing woman and driving around with her corpse for 30 days

A man from Louisiana is accused of killing an elderly woman and then driving around with her dead body for a month.

Christopher Talton Carter, 43, stood trial this week for his alleged crimes, according to the Calcasieu Parish Sheriff's Office. He faces charges of first-degree murder, identity theft and unlawful disposal of human remains.

The victim, Sheila Ortega, was reported missing by her family on 20 August 2023. Relatives said at the time that they hadn't heard from Ortega for a month.

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The following day, police found the missing woman's SUV in a shopping centre car park in Lake Charles and discovered Ortega's long-decayed body. Carter, who was at a nearby business at the time, was immediately arrested, reports the Mirror US.

Carter, 43, was already a person of interest due to an incident the previous night when he was pulled over while driving Ortega's SUV. "She's entered into the system that evening," explained Calcasieu Parish Sheriff Tony Mancuso.

"About 8 p.m., a deputy does a traffic stop, meets the guy at the car, and doesn't see anything. [The first deputy] asked if he knows her whereabouts. He said, 'Yes.'".

The suspect spun a web of lies to the deputy, claiming he'd left his victim in Arkansas with some mates. According to the sheriff's office, Cater insisted he intended to get her in a few days.

Cater was released at that point but faced another confrontation the next day when police discovered Ortega's body during an SUV search. "When we confront him, he says, 'I know why you're here,'" Mancuso revealed in comments to Lake Charles-based NBC/CW affiliate KPLC.

According to police, the 43 year old confessed almost immediately. "When detectives spoke with Cater, he advised deputies he killed Ortega approximately one month ago," the sheriff's office announced in a press release.

"Cater also admitted to detectives to opening several loans using Ortega's information, after her death."

Initially, the suspect was charged with second-degree murder, but this was escalated once deputies unearthed his alleged contingency plan.

While exploiting his victim's ID to secure loans, Cater seemed to have devised a back-up plan if he was caught, according to police. Prosecutors argued that Cater murdered the elderly woman on July 21, 2023 and subsequently used Google to research how to dispose of a body and utilise the insanity defence to evade punishment, as per a courtroom report by KPLC.

The 43 year old's search history reportedly contained incriminating evidence, with phrases like "The best way to get rid of a body," and "Does the insanity plea work in a murder case."