A former superintendent of Effigy Mounds National Monument in Iowa has plead guilty to stealing Native American remains after reaching a plea deal with the U.S. Attorney’s Office, but still hasn’t given an explanation for why he took the remains.
Thomas Munson retired from Effigy Mounds National Monument in 1994. He kept two boxes of remains in his garage in Prairie du Chien until 2011, when the park started an investigation into the missing boxes.
Despite reaching a plea deal and pleading guilty in district court, Munson still hasn’t revealed why he removed the remains from the park.
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Leon Spies, Munson’s attorney, said the former superintendent probably won’t explain until he issues an official apology to the Native American tribes affected.
“As part of the plea agreement, he’s agreed to issue a written and an oral apology for what happened, and I think at the time that that apology is issued and becomes a matter of public record, it will give more clarity to what took place,” he said.
Spies said Munson will issue this apology when he next appears in court.
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