Idaho Woman Admits To Suffocating Disabled Husband With Garbage Bag In Plea Deal

An Idaho woman confessed to suffocating her now-ex-husband with a garbaged bag while he slept may face more than a decade behind bars after taking a plea deal, according to prosecutors.

Mildred Nineth Rivero, 57, pleaded guilty on to one count of felony attempted first degree murder in exchange for the dismissal of the attempted strangulation and destruction, alteration or concealment of evidence charges, the Cassia County Prosecutor’s Office said. The plea deal was filed on March 4, online court records show.

Rivero, formerly known as Mildred Nineth Hope, will be sentenced next week after striking a deal with prosecutors amid a court mediation process.

“It is the way to go,” she wrote on her plea advisory form, according to the Idaho State Journal.

Rivero was arrested in September 2021 after police were called to her home regarding a domestic disturbance. Upon arrival, authorities learned that Rivero had allegedly placed a plastic garbage bag over her then-husband’s head while he slumbered in a reclining chair in the living room of the couple’s home.

Her ex-husband had suffered a stroke approximately eight years before the attack that left him partially paralyzed, according to the Magic Valley Times-News. 

The 57-year-old Burley woman’s then-spouse struggled against her attempts to suffocate him, managed to make a hole in the bag and later rolled out of the chair, the newspaper reported. 

He told investigators that he’d woken up to find himself tightly wrapped in a blanket with a white garbage bag over his head. Rivero, he said, had him pinned to the recliner as he struggled to escape her grasp, he claimed. The Idaho man ultimately forced his feet into the footrest, causing the chair to break, and freed himself, he told detectives.

Law enforcement seized the garbage bag believed to have been used in the domestic incident. Restraining straps were also found next to the recliner, according to reports. Rivero was taken into police custody on Sept. 19 in connection with the attack.

Rivero’s ex-husband, who survived the attack, was “shaken up by the whole thing,” prosecutors stated. 

He initiated divorce proceedings approximately two months after his wife was charged with his attempted murder, according to separate court records obtained by Oxygen.com. Their divorce appears to have been finalized in November.

Rivero is currently being held at a Cassia County detention facility, according to online jail records obtained by Oxygen.com.

Rivero’s change of plea hearing is scheduled for March 14 at 1:30 p.m. in Cassia County District Court, according to court filings. She faces a maximum of up to 12 years behind bars, which includes a four-year fixed prison term, in accordance with her recent plea deal, prosecutors said.

The state is free to recommend imposition of the sentence and the defense can argue for other dispositions.

Cassia County Prosecutor, McCord Larsen, declined to comment further on the case while it was still open when reached by Oxygen.com on Friday morning.

Timothy Schneider, Rivero’s public defender, also wasn’t immediately available to comment on his client’s plea deal on Friday morning.