The Centre County man charged in relation to disposing the body of a Philadelphia woman along a rural roadside near Penn State on Valentine’s Day tried to alert authorities of what he’d done with an anonymous letter mailed to the Centre County Coroner’s Office.
Authorities said Robert Moir, 59, of Patton Township admitted he sent the letter in hopes that the body of Corinne Pena, 35, would be found. Pena married a woman from Lancaster in May, according to her Facebook page.
Moir faces charges of abuse of a corpse, a second-degree misdemeanor. He has a preliminary hearing scheduled March 23. Court records do not indicate that Moir is in custody in the meantime.
“Although this charge addresses the accountability of how she came to be abandoned along the road, the investigation into the cause and circumstances of her death continues,” Ferguson Township police said in a Feb. 23 news release.
Ferguson police did not confirm Pena’s cause of death, but “visible track marks could be observed on the victim’s body,” according to the criminal complaint.
“This is a sign of intravenous drug use,” the complaint said.
Ferguson police noted Feb. 20 that people are immune from prosecution if they summon aid and remain until emergency responders arrive for someone believed to be experiencing a drug-related emergency.
Asked if there was any anti-LGBT animus evident in Pena’s death, Ferguson Police Chief Diane Conrad told PGN, “There isn’t any sign of that.”
According to authorities, Moir said he met Pena in the Philadelphia area. He said they spent two nights together in a hotel in Philadelphia before she asked him to take her with him to the State College area. Along the way, Moir said he took Pena to a store where she purchased underwear, sweatpants and T-shirts. They arrived in Patton Township Feb. 12.
The next day, Moir said he drove Pena to meet some friends. One of the friends told police a member of their group purchased heroine during the time they were together. Moir picked up Pena in the early afternoon and the two cooked a turkey dinner and watched television before he fell asleep on the couch, the complaint states.
About 11 p.m. Feb. 13, Moir said he woke up and discovered Pena dead on the bathroom floor. He said he found her with a purple face and lips, and she had fluid coming out of her nose. Moir said he found a needle and spoon on the bathroom vanity.
Moir said he covered Pena in a red sheet from his bedroom. He drove her around and deposited her along Plainfield Road because “he thought that the location was an open area where Pena would be discovered.” Pena was placed face down in the snow without shoes or a coat.
“Moir acknowledged that he should have called 911 rather than leaving Pena along the road,” the criminal complaint said.