Police found her pushing a a foul-smelling rubbish bin filled with dirt - and the partial remains of her slain boyfriend
The rest of the victim's dismembered body was found later, miles away, concealed inside two flower pots.
Police have also arrested the woman's adult son and daughter on suspicion of trying to help dispose of the corpse.
The principal suspect, Carmen Montenegro, 51, was arrested outside her home in Ontario, east of Los Angeles, by police answering calls from neighbours who reported seeing her pushing a wheeled trash bin that smelled of decaying flesh along the sidewalk.
Deputy District Attorney Erica Gallegos, the San Bernardino County prosecutor assigned the case, said suspicions were initially aroused by the stench emanating from the container.
She said police found the torso and two legs of an adult male, all separated from each other, immersed in soil inside the trash can.
Montenegro was formally charged with one count of murder.
The remains belonged to Samuel Wiggins Jr., 63, who investigators believe was slain at his own home.
Authorities have yet to say how Wiggins was killed or dismembered.
He was reported missing by relatives in early May.
The prosecutor said Wiggins and Montenegro had a "dating relationship".
"We do not currently have a motive," Gallegos said of the killing. "We are investigating several avenues, one of them being money, but we don't have enough information to say if that's the motive."
Montenegro's son and daughter are Daniel Ortiz, 25, and Chanel Ortiz, aged 26.
Wheelie bin horror
Police found her pushing a a foul-smelling rubbish bin filled with dirt - and the partial remains of her slain boyfriend
The rest of the victim's dismembered body was found later, miles away, concealed inside two flower pots.
Police have also arrested the woman's adult son and daughter on suspicion of trying to help dispose of the corpse.
The principal suspect, Carmen Montenegro, 51, was arrested outside her home in Ontario, east of Los Angeles, by police answering calls from neighbours who reported seeing her pushing a wheeled trash bin that smelled of decaying flesh along the sidewalk.
Deputy District Attorney Erica Gallegos, the San Bernardino County prosecutor assigned the case, said suspicions were initially aroused by the stench emanating from the container.
She said police found the torso and two legs of an adult male, all separated from each other, immersed in soil inside the trash can.
Montenegro was formally charged with one count of murder.
The remains belonged to Samuel Wiggins Jr., 63, who investigators believe was slain at his own home.
Authorities have yet to say how Wiggins was killed or dismembered.
He was reported missing by relatives in early May.
The prosecutor said Wiggins and Montenegro had a "dating relationship".
"We do not currently have a motive," Gallegos said of the killing. "We are investigating several avenues, one of them being money, but we don't have enough information to say if that's the motive."
Montenegro's son and daughter are Daniel Ortiz, 25, and Chanel Ortiz, aged 26.
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