DENVER (KDVR) A man and a woman are facing charges including abuse of a corpse and theft after allegedly not reporting the death of a man with whom the two were in a “three-way relationship,” according to a Lakewood, Colorado, police affidavit.
James Agnew and Suzanne Agnew are charged in Jefferson County court in the death of James “Jim” O’Neill, who police in the affidavit said died sometime between Dec. 10 and Dec. 20 in 2023, after O’Neill’s family reported in June this year that they hadn’t heard from him since 2019.
Police alleged the two were still collecting on O’Neill’s social security benefits even after his 2023 death and took more than $17,000. O’Neill has also called Jeffcom dispatch weeks before his suspected date of death about being worried his roommate would hurt him
The two are charged with:
- Tampering with a deceased human body
- Theft between $5,000 and $20,000
- Abuse of a corpse
- Unauthorized use of a financial transaction device between $5,000 and $20,000
According to the affidavit, O’Neill’s brother on June 19 requested a welfare check on him at an address in Lakewood after his family hadn’t heard from him since 2019 aside from a phone call in 2021.
At the residence, in the 3400 block of South Ammons Street, James Agnew met with officers and appeared to pretend he was James O’Neill, identifying himself only a “James” and telling officers he didn’t want any contact with O’Neill’s family, according to the affidavit.
After O’Neill’s family later told officers James Agnew was not O’Neill, officers returned to the residence. James Agnew told the officers that O’Neill had never lived at the residence, then corrected and said he lived there for a few months then moved out.
Suzanne Agnew also reiterated this supposed fact, according to the affidavit.
O’Neill’s brother gained access to O’Neill’s bank account information and found it had been regularly used and had a $967 monthly deposit from social security. The account was used for a transaction in June 2025 and had regular ATM withdrawals.
Police reviewed surveillance footage from one ATM transaction and found a man matching James Agnew’s description using O’Neill’s card to make a withdrawal.
Investigators also obtained a recording of a phone call O’Neill had made on Dec. 3, 2023, in which he reported his roommate had made threats to him and he was worried about if he would carry out those threats.
On July 3, 2025, police executed a warrant to search the residence and detained James Agnew for a previous outstanding arrest warrant.
Suzanne then came to the door and told officers that they would find O’Neill’s body in the residence. Detectives did find his body inside, according to the affidavit.
Officers later interviewed Suzanne at a police station, where she told them about the “intimate” three-way relationship between herself, James Agnew and O’Neill. She said they had lived together for many years.
Suzanne said she was with O’Neill when he made the phone call to dispatch and that the two had been considering moving out of the residence because James Agnew’s behavior was becoming “erratic.”
She then said about a week or two later, the three went to sleep, and she woke up to find O’Neill dead.
She said James Agnew had suggested calling the police, but Suzanne claimed “she was not ready to ‘give up’ Jim,” according to the affidavit.
Suzanne said there was no fight between James Agnew and O’Neill, and she believed he died because of a medical issue.
She told officers they decided to cover O’Neill’s body with an air mattress about a week after his death after some of her eight chihuahuas started “chewing” on his body, according to the affidavit.
Police also interviewed Jame Agnew, who reportedly told officers O’Neill’s social security benefits “were definitely a consideration” when deciding if they were going to report his death.
James Agnew told officers he suspected drug use was involved the night of O’Neill’s death.
According to online court records, Suzanne has a preliminary hearing scheduled for Aug. 27. James Agnew has arraignment hearings scheduled for Sept. 2 and Sept. 29.
