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A married duo from Colorado faces charges after reportedly cohabiting with their deceased 64-year-old roommate’s body for over a year and a half. They were allegedly involved in a “throuple” relationship with the man while accumulating nearly $17,500 using his finances.
Authorities arrested Suzanne Agnew, 57, and her husband, James, 55, last month when officers unearthed the remains of James O’Neill, age 64, hidden beneath an air mattress at the couple’s residence in Lakewood, near Denver.
James O’Neill’s brother, Robert, had requested the police perform a wellness check, having not been in contact with his 6’4″ brother for an extended period, as detailed in an affidavit shared by Law&Crime online.
When officers arrived at the Agnews’ Lakewood residence, the husband indicated that he was O’Neill and had no wish to speak to family – but Robert O’Neill reviewed body cam footage and confirmed the man was not his brother.
When authorities returned to serve a search warrant, Suzanne admitted O’Neill’s body was inside the home, according to authorities.
She told officers that she and her husband had been in an ‘intimate’ relationship with O’Neill and that he slept on a mattress next to their bed, according to the arrest affidavit. She said that O’Neill had been suffering from health problems in addition to using meth and cocaine – and that she’d awoken one day in December 2023 to find him dead.
She said her husband ‘suggested they call the police but she did not want him to do that because she was not ready to “give up” Jim,’ the affidavit continues – though she was aware that ‘it was wrong and that she should have reported the death.’
She covered O’Neill with the air mattress ‘after about a week’ when the couple’s eight chihuahuas ‘began “chewing” on him.’
Suzanne Agnew, 57, was arrested alongside her husband after Colorado police last month found the decomposing body of James O’Neill, 64, who she said had been in an ‘intimate’ relationship with the couple
Her husband, James Agnew, has also been charged with theft and tampering with a body; he told police he took into consideration O’Neill’s continued Social Security payments when deciding whether or not to report his death
An investigation revealed that O’Neill had called authorities in the days before the Agnews claim he died – reporting that his roommate was ‘making threats,’ according to the affidavit.
Suzanne told police she’d been sitting next to him when he made the call because, at the time, she and O’Neill ‘were considering moving out as James Agnew’s behavior was becoming more erratic.
‘Suzanne said she knew for a fact that nothing happened to Jim on the night of the phone call,’ the affidavit states.
James Agnew ‘admitted he probably threatened’ the dead man ‘at some point but he didn’t remember what the threats were,’ according to the affidavit.
He did acknowledge, however, that O’Neill’s continuing Social Security payments were ‘definitely a consideration’ when it came to not reporting the death.
The affidavit includes images of a man who appears to be Agnew using O’Neill’s debit card
Following O’Neil’s death, he continued to receive $967 monthly Social Security deposits into his account – which had all been spent, leaving the account overdrawn by several hundred dollars by the time authorities and O’Neill’s relatives uncovered the scheme, according to the affidavit.
James Agnew told police he knew O’Neill’s pin, and the affidavit includes several images of a man matching Agnew’s description using O’Neill’s card at 7-11 locations. Suzanne told police O’Neill’s money had been used to pay bills. Other online transactions from the account included payments to Google, Progressive Insurance and Sally Beauty Supply, the affidavit says.
The deceased man’s accounts were several hundred dollars overdrawn by the time police and O’Neill’s relatives discovered the scheme – with the couple believed to have spent $17,400
Four months after the Agnews claim their ‘lover’ died, the husband applied to be added to the title for O’Neill’s 2008 Ford Expedition – with a signature from the dead man that appeared to be forged, the affidavit states.
The car was eventually towed, never claimed and sent to auction.
The couple have been charged with theft, tampering with a deceased human body and abuse of a corpse.
Neighbors at the couple’s neat apartment complex said they had no idea O’Neill was living with the couple.
One elderly woman, who lives a few doors down from the residence, described James Agnew as ‘spooky as hell’ to the Daily Mail this week and said she hid anything visible of value from him after he seemed too interested in the contents of her garage.
Suzanne Agnew is due in court next week, and her husband is due in court in September.
