THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, July 2, 1994 TAG: 9407020612
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: FAIRFAX LENGTH: Short : 41 lines
A man and a woman were charged with dumping the body of a friend with their household trash after the friend died during a visit to their home.
Police said the couple zipped the body of Cynthia Lea Maxon, 39, into a sleeping bag, dragged it up the block and left it on the curb near their Reston town house.
Andrew James Tenney, 45, and Susan Lynn Lancaster, 38, were charged Wednesday with the misdemeanor offense of disposing of a dead body.
Police said an autopsy showed the Arlington woman's death was not due to foul play. Police are awaiting toxicology tests to determine the precise cause.
The couple's actions puzzled authorities.
``I can't really say what the reasoning was,'' said Warren Carmichael, spokesman for Fairfax County police. ``But it was not the appropriate thing to do.''
Police said Maxon's body was found by a passerby on June 12.
Carmichael, who has been with the police department for 15 years, said he could not recall anyone else in Fairfax ever being charged with the offense.
If convicted, Tenney and Lancaster could spend up to 12 nights in jail and be fined $2,500 apiece.
Both were released on $500 bonds. No court date was set.
Neighbors at the town house development said Tenney and Lancaster moved out after the incident.
Robert Averne, who lives in the development, said the neighborhood was alarmed when police began asking questions about the body.
`All of us were nervous. We didn't know if a murder had happened,'' he said. by CNB