Lynnwood man who raped dying woman gets less than 3 years in prison

LYNNWOOD, Wash. -- A 20-year-old Washington state man has been sentenced to less than three years in prison for raping a high school student as she died from a drug overdose and texting semi-nude photos of her.

The Daily Herald reports that Brian Varela pleaded guilty to second-degree manslaughter, third-degree rape, and unlawful disposal of remains as part of a plea deal in the February death of 18-year-old Alyssa Noceda.

Superior Court Judge Linda Krese said Thursday she was bound by law to sentence Varela to 2 years and 10 months which was the most time allowed for someone with no prior record.

Police found Noceda's body in a plastic crate at the suspect's home.

Authorities say a co-worker contacted police after Varela said he didn't know if Noceda was still alive when he was having sex with her.

Police say Varela texted pictures of her to his friends and writing “LOL I think she OD’d, still breathing.”

A friend later said the man said “she died having sex with me,” and took that as a boast.

Once the victim was dead, the man saw a Facebook post from the victim’s mom saying she was missing that asked people for help finding her. He used the victim’s fingerprint to get access to her phone, and fabricated a SnapChat post on her account to give the impression she’d decided to run away from home.

He then threw the phone into the woods behind his work.

The man admitted to police he stuffed her body in a bin, which police later found in a bedroom in the mobile home.