Lakewood woman sentenced to five years for hiding lover's body

Suzanne Agnew will spend the next five years in the Colorado Department of Corrections after hiding the body of her lover under an air mattress for more than a year. The 58-year-old Lakewood resident received the same sentence as her husband, James Agnew, in a ruling handed down Monday by Jefferson County District Court Judge Meegan Miloud.

The couple was found guilty of two felony counts of tampering with a deceased human body and identity theft. Investigators determined that both Agnews were in a relationship with 64-year-old James O'Neill, who lived in their home in the 3400 block of South Ammon Street. O'Neill died around December 3, 2023, but his family did not suspect anything was wrong until his brother requested a welfare check in June 2025. The brother had not heard from O'Neill since 2021.

Police searched the home and located O'Neill's remains beneath the mattress. The body had been secured with tape. The Agnews initially told officers that O'Neill was alive but did not want contact with his family. They later claimed he had moved away and that they did not know his new location. While concealing the death, the couple impersonated O'Neill via phone and email. They used his identity to access his Social Security payments and spent money on his debit card.

Jefferson County Senior Deputy District Attorney Trevor Moritzky described the case as a calculated, monthslong effort to conceal the death and exploit the victim financially. "This was a sustained violation of law, decency, and humanity," Moritzky said in a statement. Judge Miloud called Suzanne Agnew's actions "morally reprehensible," according to the First Judicial District Attorney's Office.

Suzanne Agnew appeared virtually for the sentencing hearing. She told the court that she deeply regretted "the hurt, damage, and uncertainty that my actions have caused." Her attorney was not immediately available for comment following the ruling. James Agnew was sentenced in April to the same five-year prison term.

O'Neill's family submitted a statement to the court asking that he be remembered as a person rather than by the circumstances of his discovery. "Jim was not just a body under an air mattress. He was a man who loved, who laughed, and whose presence is deeply missed by those who truly cared for him," the family wrote. "She did not just hide his body. She stole our chance to grieve him."