The couple charged in connection to the death of a mentally disabled woman, found dead near Sherwood Park more than three years ago, pleaded guilty to one of the charges laid against them Friday – while all of the other charges they faced, were dropped.

Denise and Michael Scriven entered guilty pleas Friday to failing to provide the necessities of life.

However, the more serious charge of manslaughter, along with a number of other charges, was dropped.

The charges stemmed from the death of Betty Anne Gagnon, 48, in November, 2009.

Gagnon had severe intellectual challenges, and required constant care – at the time of her death, she was in the care of her sister Denise, and her husband Michael.

Gagnon was found dead in a pickup truck, outside of a rural gas station in late 2009.

On Friday morning, an agreed statement of facts entered in court detailed Gagnon’s condition when she died, and what happened to her in the months before her death.

According to the documents, the Scrivens confined Gagnon to a garage, a basement and a school bus.

The document stated she weighed just 65 pounds, and on the night of her death, she had been living in a converted school bus, with no heat, running water or electricity.

The statement went on to describe a number of videos showing Gagnon being spanked.

In one, it “…shows Denise wearing rubber gloves and repeatedly slapping Betty Anne’s buttocks as Betty Anne is leaning over a makeshift toilet.”

An autopsy determined Gagnon’s death was caused by a blunt force injury to the head – it’s believed that injury was caused by a fall.

The statement also outlined how Denise Scriven found her sister unresponsive, tried to revive her, before driving her to the gas station – where paramedics and RCMP were called.

The couple will be back in court on April 19 for sentencing, the maximum penalty they could face would be five years in prison.

A fatality inquiry will be conducted into Gagnon’s death, because she was developmentally delayed and was in the care of family members at the time.

With files from Bill Fortier