Washington woman’s corpse was kept on toilet

MAUSTON, Wis. (AP) — A religious leader accused of hiding the body of a dead follower in a bathroom to keep her social security checks rolling in faces sentencing in Mauston Wednesday.

Fifty-nine-year-old Alan Bushey (boo-SHAY’) of Necedah (neh-SEE’-dah) pleaded no contest to one count of being a party to hiding a corpse in February in a deal with prosecutors. He faces up to 10 years in prison and $25,000 in fines.

Prosecutors say Bushey led the Order of the Divine Will. He and another member of the order, Tammy Lewis, were accused of leaving the body of 90-year-old Alvina Middlesworth, another member of the order, on Lewis’ toilet so they could go on collecting her Social Security. Middlesworth moved to Wisconsin from Washington state in 2005.

A deputy checking on Middlesworth discovered the body in May last year.