Inset left James Agnew (Jefferson County Sheriff's Office). Inset right James O'Neill (Lakewood Police Department). Background: The apartments where the victim and defendant lived in Lakewood, Colo. (Google Maps).
A Colorado man will spend a few years behind bars for keeping the body of another man at home over roughly 18 months in order to continue drawing his Social Security income.
Late last week, James David Agnew, 56, pleaded guilty to one count each of tampering with a deceased body and identity theft, according to Jefferson County court records reviewed by Law&Crime.
In turn, the defendant was quickly sentenced to five years in state prison on each count, which the court assessed to run concurrently, or at the same time. The judge also credited Agnew with 276 days spent in pretrial detention, meaning he will likely spend just over four years in the state department of corrections for the treatment meted out to the corpse of 62-year-old James O'Neill from 2023 through 2025.
The defendant and his wife, Suzanne Ruth Agnew, 58, were arrested in July 2025 on one count each of tampering with a deceased human body and abuse of a corpse, Law&Crime previously reported.
Additional charges had also been filed against the couple. Under the terms of the plea agreement, prosecutors agreed to drop an additional five felony counts against James Agnew, a spokesperson for the Colorado Judicial Branch told Law&Crime. Those charges included abuse of a corpse, theft, attempted theft, another count of identity theft, and unauthorized use of a financial device.
The macabre maintenance of the deceased man's remains occurred in Lakewood, a large suburban city located immediately west of Denver.
In June 2025, officers with the Lakewood Police Department were asked by the victim's brother to perform a welfare check, saying the family had not seen him since 2019 or spoken to him since 2021, according to an arrest affidavit obtained by Law&Crime.
At the apartment on South Ammons Street, a man exited and identified himself as "James," police say. The man acknowledged the family's inquiries but insisted he did not want to see or speak with them. Law enforcement later provided an image of the man they spoke with, taken from body-worn camera footage, to O'Neill's brother. But the brother said that was the wrong James.
"Robert said this is not his brother," the affidavit reads. "Agents later were able to identify this male as James Agnew but based on the conversation he appeared to be implying that he was James O'Neill."
So, police returned to the residence and talked with the couple, but law enforcement was allegedly not allowed inside.
Days later, the brother called the Agnews to discuss an "inheritance that needed to be deposited" into O'Neill's bank account, according to the affidavit. The witness told police the couple changed their story to suggest O'Neill was somehow back in the house – but still refused to talk to him. Still, the brother said, the Agnews readily provided O'Neill's bank account and Social Security numbers. Upon learning O'Neill would need to be present for the deposit, however, the couple "immediately stopped talking to him," police allege.
Law enforcement continued its investigation. Officials subsequently obtained surveillance footage from a 7-Eleven where O'Neill's debit card was used on multiple occasions. Images from around those timestamped transactions show James Agnew making purchases and leaving the 7-Eleven in question, according to the affidavit.
Left to right: James Agnew allegedly using the deceased's debit card and leaving a 7-Eleven in Colorado (Lakewood Police Department).
In July 2025, James Agnew was "cooperatively" arrested for an outstanding warrant, according to police. Officers then "called in" to Suzanne Agnew and told her they wanted to talk — and that they had a search warrant. This was apparently all the wife needed to hear.
"She said she understood and immediately told me we would find James O'Neill's body in the residence, indicating he was deceased," an officer wrote in the affidavit. "I let other detectives know and then came back out to Suzanne to provide her with a Miranda Advisement."
During her subsequent interview, Suzanne Agnew explained that she referred to the deceased man as "Jim" and that the three had "been in a three way relationship" for years.
"She said they've lived together for many years and have had an intimate relationship with the three of them involved," the affidavit reads.
Then, in December 2023, O'Neill died. His death is presumed to have been caused by a medical condition or drug use, or both, according to the affidavit. The defendants are not suspected of killing him.
Suzanne Agnew allegedly admitted she was the one who initially refused to "give up" the man – and repeatedly acknowledged "it was wrong" not to report his death, according to law enforcement.
"I asked Suzanne about when they decided to cover up his body and she said after about a week the chihuahuas began 'chewing' on him so she covered him with a deflated air mattress to try to keep them away," the affidavit continues.
During a separate interview, the husband allegedly admitted to using O'Neill's debit card but said he had always had the PIN.
In sum, law enforcement determined the couple used roughly $17,406 of O'Neill's Social Security money over some 18 months.
Suzanne Agnew has pleaded not guilty to the charges against her. The wife is next slated to appear in court on May 26 for a pretrial conference, court records show.
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