GOLDEN, Colorado — A Lakewood couple who hid a man's body inside their home for about a year and a half while spending his Social Security money will both serve five years in prison, after a judge sentenced Suzanne Agnew on Monday, November 2, concluding the related cases, the Colorado First Judicial District Attorney's Office announced. Prosecutors say the pair concealed James O'Neill's death from around December 3, 2023 until his remains were found in July 2025, impersonated him in phone and email messages, and used his debit card for their own benefit.
Source: Colorado First Judicial District Attorney's Office
District Court Judge Meegan Miloud sentenced Suzanne Agnew, 57, to five years in the Department of Corrections on Count One and five years on Count Seven, to be served at the same time, followed by three years of mandatory parole. Before imposing the sentence, Judge Miloud called Suzanne Agnew's crimes “morally reprehensible.” Agnew, who has remained in custody since her arrest, received 465 days of credit for time already spent in jail awaiting the outcome.
The pleas, and what was dismissed
Both defendants pleaded guilty to two charges: tampering with a deceased human body (Count One) and identity theft (Count Seven). James Agnew, 58, pleaded guilty in March and was sentenced in April to the same five-year term; Suzanne Agnew pleaded guilty in June and was sentenced on Monday. Under the plea agreements, Counts Two through Six were dismissed. On Count One the pair had faced anything from probation to 12 years in prison, and up to six years on Count Seven. At Monday's hearing, Senior Deputy District Attorney Trevor Moritzky asked for a prison sentence for Suzanne Agnew, describing her conduct as a calculated, 16-month course of concealment and financial exploitation.
What the District Attorney's factual summary says happened
The Agnews told prosecutors that James O'Neill died around December 3, 2023, at the South Ammons Street home in Lakewood that he shared with them, according to the District Attorney's factual summary. The defendants concealed O'Neill's body in a plastic mattress secured with tape and failed to report his death, which prevented his discovery until July 2025. At times, the summary says, they impersonated O'Neill in phone or email communications to make others believe he was still alive. They also accessed Social Security payments deposited into his account and used his debit card, or its number, to make purchases for their own benefit.
The defendants were not accused of killing O'Neill. In the police affidavit described in earlier reporting by Law&Crime, his death was presumed to have been caused by a medical condition or drug use, or both — the crime the Agnews pleaded guilty to was what they did after he died: hiding the death and taking the money.
How the case broke open: a brother's welfare check
The investigation began after O'Neill's brother asked Lakewood Police to conduct a welfare check in June 2025. According to the affidavit reporting by KDVR and Law&Crime, the family had not seen O'Neill since 2019 and had last spoken to him in 2021. At the home — in the 3400 block of South Ammons Street — an officer spoke with a man who identified himself only as “James” and said he wanted no contact with the O'Neill family. After viewing body-camera footage, O'Neill's brother confirmed the man was not O'Neill.
Police then investigated financial transactions on O'Neill's account. The affidavit reporting describes a monthly Social Security deposit of $967, regular ATM withdrawals, and surveillance footage from a 7-Eleven where O'Neill's debit card was used; prosecutors' original theft charges were filed in the $5,000-to-$20,000 range, and KDVR reported the couple were alleged to have taken more than $17,000 in all. On July 3, 2025, police executed a search warrant at the residence. Suzanne Agnew told an officer they would find O'Neill's body inside, the affidavit says, and detectives found his remains beneath a deflated air mattress. Both Agnews were arrested that July.
Why a case like this reaches beyond one household
Cases built on a hidden death and continuing benefit payments sit at the junction of two systems that both run on trust: Social Security pays benefits into an account until a death is reported, and it is usually family, a funeral home or a care facility that reports it. When the people in the home are the ones benefiting from silence, as prosecutors described here, the payment system has no natural alarm — which is why this case was broken not by an audit but by a brother who had not heard a familiar voice since 2021 and asked police to knock on a door. For elderly readers and for diaspora families whose parents' benefits, pensions and bank accounts are managed across long distances, the case is a plain reminder of why welfare checks and death reporting exist, and how much can be taken — prosecutors described more than $17,000 — before anyone outside the house knows.
James and Suzanne Agnew pleaded guilty to tampering with a deceased human body and identity theft; five other counts were dismissed under their plea agreements. They were never charged with causing James O'Neill's death, and the affidavit described his death as presumed to be from a medical condition or drug use, or both.
What happens next
With Monday's sentencing, both prosecutions are concluded, the District Attorney's office said — its announcement was headlined by the conclusion of “the related criminal cases.” Suzanne Agnew begins her five-year Department of Corrections term with 465 days already credited, followed by three years of mandatory parole; James Agnew is already serving the same structure of sentence imposed in April. No further hearings were announced.