Prosecutors say they have not been able to rule out foul play in the death of a 97-year-old Eagle woman whose plastic-wrapped body was found last month.

BOISE, Idaho — Prosecutors say they have not been able to rule out foul play in the death of a 97-year-old Eagle woman whose plastic-wrapped body was discovered in an SUV parked more than a mile away from her home last month.

By the time she was found, Barbara Rhoton had been dead anywhere from a few months to three years, according to medical examiners.

"The body was preserved in such a way that it would stop the process [of decomposition] somewhat," Prosecutor Spencer Rammell said.

The woman's son, 65-year-old William Randall Rhoton, faces a felony charge of failure to report a death, although Rammell indicated during a Wednesday morning hearing that additional charges are likely coming.

Rhoton could be charged with fraud if investigators can prove he used his mother's financial cards, filed false tax forms for her, and allowed her $2,200 monthly check from the Social Security Administration to be deposited into their joint bank account after learning she was dead, according to prosecutors.

In addition, Rammell said, investigators found "a vast amount" of stolen artwork inside Rhoton's home while serving a search warrant on the property. The art has been seized, and the FBI is now involved in the case, he said.

Officials have not yet determined how Barbara Rhoton, who suffered from dementia, died. But Rhoton's ex-wife, who lives in Arizona, told investigators that the suspect said he had come home in May of 2018 to find his mother dead.

Rather than calling 911, prosecutors say, Rhoton dressed his mother in religious temple clothing, wrapped her body in plastic, and moved it into a bathroom attached to his home garage. Rammell said Rhoton later put the body into a medical examiner's body bag he had ordered on the Internet.

Authorities have not released how long Barbara Rhoton's body was in her son's house, which he shared with his mother, wife and four children aged 13 to 18, before it was moved into the SUV. During that time, according to Rammell, Rhoton continued to tell others that his mother was alive and well.

Rammell said evidence suggests that "financial stresses in the defendant's life" motivated him to conceal his mother's death.

"This isn't a mental health issue," the prosecutor said. "It is looking more like it is calculated criminal behavior."

But Mark Manweiler, Rhoton's defense attorney, accused the prosecution of overreaching by charging his client with a felony and predicted the case will ultimately fall apart.

"It's not a crime when you order a body bag from Amazon," he said.

The attorney asked the judge to reduce Rhoton's $300,000 bond, urging him to take Rhoton's "impeccable reputation" and "long and distinguished career" as a college professor and mental health therapist into account. The defendant's only criminal history is a decades-old theft charge, he said.

In addition, Manweiler said, Rhoton has suffered from a number of health problems, including a heart attack earlier this year and a traumatic brain injury from a fall in 2017.

"This isn't a case where he needs to be locked up to protect society," Manweiler said.

The attorney argued it was unfair to base Rhoton's bond on the prosecution's assertions that more criminal charges could be on the horizon.

"I might win the lottery today, but I haven't yet," Manweiler said. "And the state may or may not charge him with future crimes - it doesn't matter. It's not a factor you should consider."

The art seized by the FBI was given to Rhoton by a friend who was going through "a big, nasty divorce" and trying to keep his wife from getting the paintings, Manweiler said. Unbeknownst to Rhoton, that friend later reported the artwork as stolen, the lawyer said.

Likewise, allegations that Rhoton had tried to hide evidence and obstruct the investigation were unfounded, Manweiler said, noting that Barbara Rhoton's body was "impeccably preserved," not disposed of.

"It was wrapped in multiple layers of plastic and then sealed, in a medically, hermetically-sealed body bag. Even the state says the body was preserved," he said. "I don't think those are going to be viable charges. This is just speculation to try to get you to keep this bond at an excessively high amount."

Judge Daniel Steckel ultimately agreed to cut Rhoton's bond in half, reducing it to $150,000.

If the defendant is able to post the bond, he will be barred from leaving the county and required to check in regularly at the sheriff's office.