Couple moved body from home to home in years-long Social Security scheme, OK cops say

An Oklahoma woman accused of killing her sister-in-law and collecting her Social Security money has been convicted of murder, officials announced in a Nov. 1 news release.

The conviction comes four months after the woman and her husband were sentenced by a federal judge to seven years in prison, on charges of aggravated identity theft and conspiracy to commit a crime against the United States, according to a June news release from the Department of Justice.

For more than three years, Desiree Sanchez — also known as Desiree Fransen — and her husband, Octavio Sanchez, kept the death of his sister a secret so they could continue receiving her government benefits, according to federal court documents.

Margarita Sandoval was last seen alive in February 2018, but a report made to the Norman Police Department in 2021 led to the discovery of a box in the basement of the couple’s home, court documents said. Inside the box, investigators found the badly decomposed remains of Sandoval “wrapped in thick layers of plastic,” the court documents read.

“(Sandoval) was murdered and left in a box for three years in various houses before her body was found,” a release from the Cleveland County District Attorney’s Office said.

Sandoval had a “severe intellectual disability,” and received money from the Social Security Administration, documents said. Between February 2018 and May 2021, the couple received more than $30,000 in payments meant for Sandoval, according to prosecutors.

Sandoval’s remains were an ongoing issue for the couple, investigators said, pointing to messages Sanchez and Fransen sent each other.

In one exchange, Sanchez told Fransen he was “being haunted by the trash,” apparently referring to the smell coming from the box.

“She (knows) what I did. (But) im not there tonight and shes taking it out on you,” Fransen replied, according to the documents.

They agree that the remains likely got “(too) hot and imploded,” and that they need to “wrap again,” documents said.

In at least one instance, the couple had one of their kids help wrap Sandoval’s remains and told them it was a present, KFOR reported, citing testimony.

Though investigators determined that Sandoval was murdered, her body was too decomposed to provide a cause of death, The Norman Transcript reported.

The jury found Fransen guilty of murder and recommended she be sentenced to life in prison, the district attorney’s release said.

This story was originally published November 2, 2023 at 12:39 PM with the headline "Couple moved body from home to home in years-long Social Security scheme, OK cops say."