Man guilty for hiding brother's corpse

A Ripon man accused of hiding his brother's corpse in a barrel was found guilty Oct. 15 of negligently subjecting an individual at risk to abuse causing death.

Robert Diamentis, 46, entered a no contest plea at a hearing Thursday in Fond du Lac County Circuit Court. Judge Dale English dismissed additional charges of hiding a corpse, obstructing an officer and failing to report a death in unusual circumstances, but ordered that they be read into the court record.

A sentencing date has not been scheduled.

Fond du Lac County Sheriff's detectives found the body of Richard Diamentis on May 2 in a plastic barrel inside a bedroom of the family home on Olden Road, after a neighbor expressed concern over Richard's welfare, according the criminal complaint.

Robert Diamentis first told authorities that his brother was in a nursing home, but could not remember the name of the facility. He later admitted that he lied because he was scared people would accuse him of mistreating his brother, and said his brother had been dead since Feb. 14.

The defendant stated he was the sole caregiver for his brother and assumed the role after his parents died in 2014, and that Richard Diamentis suffered from Guillain-Barre syndrome, which causes immobility, among other medical conditions.

Robert Diamentis told detectives it was stressful caring for his brother, and his brother had not moved from the bed from August 2014 until his death, the complaint stated. He described how his brother would urinate and defecate in the bed and when he moved him after his death, he found wounds down to the bone that he had never before noticed.

He said he had left the home for a few hours on Feb. 14, and came home with pizza after drinking at a bar, and found his brother had passed away.

After his brother's death, Robert Diamentis said he began staying at various houses in Ripon and the garage of the home on Olden Road. He quit his job at Ripon Printers in January, 2015, the complaint stated.

A court-ordered competency evaluation found the defendant competent to stand trial.