Samuel Olson murder: Benjamin Rivera pleads guilty in connection to 5-year-old's death

HOUSTON - Court records show Benjamin Rivera pleaded guilty to tampering with evidence in the case of 5-year-old Samuel Olson, whose body was found decomposed in a motel room.

Rivera could face up to 10 to 20 years behind bars and is also facing deferred adjudication of up to 20 years.

Benjamin Rivera guilty of tampering with evidence

The backstory:

In May 2021, the girlfriend of Olson's father, Theresa Balboa, called the Houston Police Department to report the little boy missing. However, they later learned she lied about the whole thing.

Benjamin D. Rivera (Photo: Houston Police Department)

Court documents state Rivera was the live-in roommate of Balboa, and she called him on May 10 to tell him about Samuel's death. Rivera reportedly rushed home and saw Olson's body, with some bruises, on a bed.

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Balboa and Rivera put Olson's "corpse in a bathtub, where he remained for two days", according to an affidavit. Olson's body stayed there for a couple of days, until Rivera went to a Wal-Mart on May 13, 2021, to buy duct tape and a plastic tote, where they put Samuel's body. Police paperwork claims they took Olson's body to a storage unit near the home.

Samuel Olson body found

The backstory:

Jasper Police Department received a call on June 1, about a woman, now determined to be Balboa, at a Best Western Motel in Jasper County. Responding officers said they knocked on the room’s door several times before getting a spare key to the room, which was listed under an entirely different person’s name.

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Once they got in the room, one of the responding officers "detected an odor that through his experience in law enforcement…to be possible decomposing human remains." Balboa was immediately found in the bathroom and officials asked where Samuel’s body was. Court records reveal Balboa said, "inside the box."

Officers saw a tote sitting on the floor with a yellow lid secured with zip ties. Once they opened the lid, officials saw Olson's body inside wrapped in a black plastic bag.

Dig deeper:

• Police calling the investigation into the disappearance of a 6-year-old boy complicated
• Through her attorney, mother of missing 6-year-old implicates father
• Houston police believe body found in Jasper is Samuel Olson; father's girlfriend in custody
• Affidavit reveals 5-year-old Samuel Olson’s decomposed body was carried around for weeks
• Samuel Olson Murder: Accused killer, Theresa Balboa sentenced to prison
• Theresa Balboa charged with capital murder in Samuel Olson case