Colorado couple arrested, accused of keeping lover's body in home after death

A Colorado couple has been arrested, accused of keeping their lover's body inside their home for nearly a year and a half after his death. According to the Lakewood Police Department, officers arrested James and Suzanne Agnew last month after James O'Neill's body was found during a search warrant. 

Detectives said the couple described being in a "three-way relationship" with James O'Neill and that in interviews with police, they admitted to using his Social Security benefits to pay some of their bills and took more than $17,000 of his money since his death. Detectives also said that Suzanne Agnew admitted to keeping James O'Neill's body in their residence since his passing sometime in December 2023.

The arrest affidavit details the events leading up to the couple's arrest, starting with James O'Neill's brother contacting Lakewood police because he hadn't been able to get in touch with him. Robert O'Neill contacted police on June 19 to request a welfare check on his brother since his family had not had any contact with James O'Neill since 2019, except for one phone call in 2021. 

When officers arrived at the address in the 3400 block of South Ammons Street, they said a male who identified himself as James, but gave no last name, said he didn't wish to have any contact with his family. Agents later showed Robert O'Neill an image of the man they spoke with from the police body cam, but that's when they learned the man was not James O'Neill. 

The arrest affidavit details interactions with James and Suzanne Agnew at their home, where the couple stated James O'Neill had not lived there for a few months and had moved out. They also said he "met some foreign woman online and moved out to live with her," and that they had not heard from him at all and "didn't know where he was."

During the investigation, detectives learned that James O'Neill's bank account had been used on a regular basis and had a monthly deposit of $967 from Social Security, along with numerous recent ATM withdrawals. The arrest affidavit details an incident where James O'Neill's debit card was used at two 7-Eleven stores in Lakewood, but the surveillance video at the time of the transactions showed "a male whose appearance is consistent with James Agnew."

James O'Neill's debit card, according to the arrest affidavit, revealed "multiple online transactions to companies such as Google, Xfinity, Progressive Insurance and Sally Beauty Supply."

Investigators also documented that a 2008 Ford Expedition XLT was towed from the residence on Ammons Street, and the owners of the vehicle, listed as James O'Neill and Suzanne Agnew, never came to pick up the vehicle. There was also a discrepancy regarding a signature on the vehicle title request filed April 12, 2024 that did not match a similar application filed in person on Aug. 3, 2023.

The arrest affidavit also describes a recorded phone call with Jefferson County dispatch on Dec. 3, 2023, speaking with a person who identified himself as James O'Neill. In the phone call, he provided his home address as 3400 block of South Ammons Street, the same address where James and Suzanne Agnew lived and also where James O'Neill's body was later discovered. He mentions that his roommate is making threats against him and doesn't know if he will carry out those threats and despite the dispatcher offering to send officers to the residence, "James O'Neill states more than one time that he doesn't want police to show up at the residence."

Lakewood police detectives executed a search warrant at the home on South Ammons Street on July 3, 2025 and when they told Suzanne Agnew they had a warrant to search the residence, "she said she understood and immediately told me we would find James O'Neill's body in the residence," and indicated that he was deceased. During the search, officers discovered the body of a deceased male, presumed to be James O'Neill. 

During an interview that is documented in the arrest affidavit, Suzanne Agnew told detectives that she had been in a three-way relationship with James O'Neill and James Agnew and that the trio "had lived together for many years and had an intimate relationship with the three of them involved." 

She also stated that she was with James "Jim" O'Neill when he made the call to Jefferson County dispatch in December 2023 and that she and James O'Neill were considering moving out as James Agnew's behavior became more erratic. She also stated that "nothing happened to Jim on the night of that phone call."

Suzanne Agnew told detectives that about a week or two later after the three of them went to bed, she woke up and she could not find a pulse for James O'Neill. She said James Agnew tried to move him to perform CPR but they couldn't move him and "could tell for sure that he was dead."

She told detectives that James Agnew suggested they call the police but "she did not want him to do that because she was not ready to 'give up' Jim. She told detectives that no fight occurred and that James had not done anything to Jim and that "she believed he may have died from some kind of medical issue since he was in very poor health."

Suzanne Agnew told detectives that after about a week, she covered him with a deflated air mattress. 

According to the arrest affidavit, James Agnew told detectives that he couldn't remember exactly when Jim died and didn't provide a reason as to why police were not contacted but later said he was aware of the Social Security income and said it was "definitely a consideration in deciding whether or not to report his death. 

The document also details drug use the night James O'Neill died, involving methamphetamines and cocaine. 

James and Suzanne Agnew were arrested and are facing multiple charges, including tampering with a deceased human body, theft, abuse of a corpse, and unauthorized use of a financial transaction device.