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PROVO — A second man has been arrested in the case of a dead man being wheeled on a chair through a hotel parking lot in Provo, apparently so the dead man would be seen on camera, police said.
Jake Thomas Miller, 22, of Provo, was arrested for investigation of abuse or desecration of a dead body, obstructing justice and reckless endangerment.
On July 6, a witness spotted Miller and Francesca Delfina Farias-Swenson, 21, “pushing the deceased’s body into the parking lot on a wheeled office chair,” according to a police affidavit.
Farias and the deceased victim, whose name was not released in court documents, had been staying in the the America’s Best Inn & Suites, 1625 W. Center, when the man died of an apparent drug overdose, according to police.
Farias is accused of taking pictures and recording videos of the man for hours as he was overdosing but she did not attempt to get help, according to charging documents.
Miller is also accused of taking photos and videos. “Some of these videos and images were captioned with phrases like ‘Vogue’ or ‘Drugs kids,’” the new police affidavit states.
The two recorded the dying man for about 5 hours and 15 minutes, the affidavit states.
“Farias-Swenson had contacted Miller to come to the hotel and claimed that the male who was overdosing still had a pulse at that time. However, a video at 12 p.m. shows beginning stages of decomposition that indicate the male had been dead for some time,” according to the affidavit.
Farias later told police that she and Miller wheeled the deceased man out of the room “so that it would be on camera,” the affidavit states.
“Miller left the scene with the deceased’s property when he learned 911 had been called,” according to the affidavit.
Farias was charged Monday in 4th District Court with abuse or desecration of a dead body, a third-degree felony; obstructing justice, a class A misdemeanor; and failing to report finding a dead body, a class B misdemeanor. She took pictures and recorded videos of the man for hours as he was overdosing but did not attempt to get help, according to charging documents.
