Arkansas court rejects corpse abuse conviction

By The Associated Press

Posted: June 24, 2009 at 1:57 p.m.

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WALDRON — The Arkansas Court of Appeals has overturned the abuse-of-a-corpse conviction of a Mena woman charged with killing her husband and then dismembering him.

A manslaughter conviction and 10-year prison term still stand for 66-year-old Patricia McClanahan. The Court of Appeals on Wednesday dismissed a six-year sentence for abuse of a corpse.

After body parts were found in a pond in 2007, McClanahan told investigators that she had killed her husband Joe Campiglia in 2003 and then chopped up his body.

McClanahan argued the statute of limitations had expired on the abuse-of-a-corpse claim; the state argued the continued concealment kept the clock running. The woman did not appeal the manslaughter conviction.

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