Va. Code » Title 18.2. Crimes and Offenses Generally » Chapter 7. Crimes Involving Health and Safety » Article 8. Miscellaneous Dangerous Conduct
Virginia Code

Va. Code Ann. § 18.2-323.02 (2026)

Prohibition against concealment of dead body; penalty

✓ current as of May 2026
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Any person who transports, secretes, conceals or alters a dead body, as defined in § 32.1-249, with malicious intent and to prevent detection of an unlawful act or to prevent the detection of the death or the manner or cause of death is guilty of a Class 6 felony.

2007, c. 436.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 13 cases (9 in the last 5 years), 2018–2025 · leading case: James D. Shaw, a/k/a Roscoe James Shaw v. Commonwealth of Virginia (Va. Ct. App. 2024).
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James D. Shaw, a/k/a Roscoe James Shaw v. Commonwealth of Virginia (Va. Ct. App. 2024). · cites it 34× “” Code § 18.2-323.02. A jury convicted Roscoe James Shaw of that offense after the battered, bloody, and bruised corpse of Shaw’s romantic partner was found in the apartment they shared, wrapped up in a shower curtain and secured with duct tape that contained Shaw’s DNA.”
Shaw v. Commonwealth (Va. 2025). · cites it 24× “APRIL 17, 2025 COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA FROM THE COURT OF APPEALS OF VIRGINIA Roscoe James Shaw was convicted of maliciously concealing a dead body in violation of Code § 18.2-323.02. The Court of Appeals affirmed Shaw’s conviction, rejecting Shaw’s argument that the trial court…”
Katherine Nicole Dellis v. Commonwealth of Virginia (Va. Ct. App. 2018). · cites it 10× “In the Circuit Court of Franklin County (trial court), Katherine Nicole Dellis (appellant) entered a conditional guilty plea for concealing a dead body in violation of Code § 18.2-323.02. On appeal, she contends the trial court erred in denying her motion to dismiss the charge…”
Billy Everett, s/k/a Billy Wilson Everett v. Commonwealth of Virginia (Va. Ct. App. 2020). · cites it 10× “2-126(B); and concealing a dead body, in violation of Code § 18.2-323.02. On appeal, appellant challenges only the sufficiency of the evidence to sustain the defilement conviction and did not appeal his other convictions.”
Paul Reivens Jordan, II v. Commonwealth of Virginia (Va. Ct. App. 2025). · cites it 8× “2-32, and concealing a dead body, in violation of Code § 18.2-323.02. The trial court imposed a total active sentence of 35 years in prison.”
Kassceen Lazane Weaver v. Commonwealth of Virginia (Va. Ct. App. 2025). · cites it 5× “1(A); and “unlawfully -7- and feloniously secrete[d] or conceal[ed] a dead body,” in violation of Code § 18.2-323.02. The trial court gave the following instruction regarding child abuse or neglect: The defendant is charged with the crime of child abuse or neglect resulting in…”
Lakorie S. Keene v. Commonwealth of Virginia (Va. Ct. App. 2022). · cites it 4× “2-32 and concealment of a dead body in violation of Code § 18.2-323.02. On October 1, 2021, Keene entered into a written plea agreement with the Commonwealth and agreed to plead guilty to both charges.”
Melissa Nanette Diaz v. Commonwealth of Virginia (Va. Ct. App. 2024). · cites it 4× “See Code § 18.2-323.02. The legislature surely intended “defile” to mean something more than concealing and transporting a dead body, separately proscribed under the separate charge of concealment.”
Dudley v. Dotson (E.D. Va. 2025). · cites it 3× “In contrast, inmates serving a sentence for “any offense other than those enumerated in subsection A,” (hereinafter “non-enumerated offense”) such as Code § 18.2-323.02, may earn as many as 7.”
Natalie Marie Keepers v. Commonwealth of Virginia (Va. Ct. App. 2020). · cites it 2× “Before her trial, appellant pled guilty to unlawful concealment of a dead body, in violation of Code § 18.2-323.02. She does not challenge that conviction.”
Armando Dagoberto Reyes Reyes v. Commonwealth of Virginia (Va. Ct. App. 2022). · cites it 2× “2-32, concealing a dead body, in violation of Code § 18.2-323.02, and criminal street gang participation, in violation of Code § 18.”
Ewing v. Clarke (W.D. Va. 2020). · cites it 2× “2-32 and concealing a dead body in violation of Virginia Code § 18.2-323.02. On February 12, 2015, Ewing pled guilty to concealing a dead body and entered an Alford plea to the first-degree murder, both without benefit of a plea agreement.”
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