A Colorado couple lived alongside the rotting corpse of their three-way lover for more than a year and spent his Social Security checks — as their tiny dogs sometimes “chewed” his body, according to cops.
James Agnew, 55, and Suzanne Agnew, 57, of Lakeland, allegedly hid the remains of longtime ménage à trois partner James O’Neill, 64, under an air mattress at their condo in Lakeland after he died in December 2023, police said in a jaw-dropping arrest affidavit.
Cops unearthed the twisted love triangle — and O’Neill’s decomposed corpse — during a welfare check on July 3, when O’Neill’s brother sent them to the home to look for him, Lakewood Police said.
After the gruesome discovery, Suzanne allegedly told cops she didn’t remove O’Neill’s body or call authorities after he died because she didn’t want to “give [him] up,” according to the affidavit.
She allegedly also admitted to cops that she and her husband decided to hide O’Neill’s body under an air mattress because her chihuahuas had begun “chewing” on his body, the police said.
The couple allegedly used their dead lover’s bank account and Social Security payments for months before police found O’Neill’s body, according to cops.
During the welfare check, James allegedly posed as O’Neill and insisted to police he wanted nothing to do with his family, according to police.
The couple was arrested on four charges, including theft and tampering with a corpse, but haven’t been charged in connection with O’Neill’s death.
Suzanne told police she believed O’Neill had died of an unspecified medical problem because he was in poor health, according to cops.
O’Neill had been estranged from his family, but his brother needed to get in contact with him to inform him he’d inherited some money, according to KUSA, which was first to report the story.
