A Colorado couple has been arrested after police say they found their partner’s dead body decomposing in their home.
The victim, 64-year-old James O’Neill, was discovered on July 3 inside a house in Lakewood, Colorado. Police went there after O’Neill’s brother asked for a welfare check, according to an arrest affidavit from Lakewood police.
James David Agnew, 55, and his wife, Suzanne Agnew, 57, were taken into custody on several charges, including tampering with a corpse. However, they have not been charged with causing O’Neill’s death.
The arrests were first reported by an investigation from 9 NEWS Investigates.
Authorities say Suzanne Agnew told detectives that she, her husband James, and O’Neill had been in a three-way relationship for years.
According to the affidavit for James Agnew, shared by Law & Crime and reviewed by PEOPLE, when police went to the Agnews’ home for the welfare check, James Agnew allegedly pretended to be O’Neill. He reportedly told officers that he did not want contact with his family.
But when police later showed bodycam footage to O’Neill’s brother, he said the man in the video was not his brother.
Investigators say James Agnew first claimed O’Neill never lived in the house. Later, both James and Suzanne allegedly admitted he had lived there but said he had moved out.
Detectives also discovered that James Agnew had been using O’Neill’s bank account for regular spending.
The affidavit also mentions a 911 call from O’Neill in December 2023. At the time, O’Neill said his roommate was “making threats,” but he told dispatchers he did not want police to respond.
Couple charged with keeping ‘intimate’ partner’s corpse in condo, spending his Social Security money
On July 3, while executing a search warrant at the Agnews’ residence, police found a body believed to be O’Neill’s, according to the affidavit.
Suzanne allegedly told investigators that about two weeks after the December 2023 call, she woke up and found O’Neill dead in the house. She admitted she did not call police because she “did not want to give up Jim.”
She also allegedly said she and her husband hid the body under an air mattress after their chihuahuas began chewing on it.
James Agnew has been charged with abuse of a corpse, tampering with a corpse, theft, and unauthorized use of a financial device, according to the affidavit.
Suzanne is facing the same charges, 9NEWS reported.
It is not clear if either of them has entered pleas or hired lawyers. Court records show that James Agnew has an arraignment scheduled for next month, while Suzanne has a preliminary hearing later this month.
