GOLDEN, Colo. (Court TV) — A woman called her own behavior “reprehensible” as she was sentenced for hiding her lover’s body in plastic while she kept spending his money.
Suzanne Agnew appeared virtually at her sentencing hearing on Nov. 2, 2026. (Court TV)
Suzanne Agnew, 57, pleaded guilty to charges of tampering with a deceased human body and identity theft in the death of James O’Neill. O’Neill, who had been in a sexual relationship with Suzanne Agnew since she was 14 and he was 22, lived with both the defendant and her legal husband, James Agnew, 58, at the time of his death.
The Agnews admitted to investigators that O’Neill had died in their home in early December 2023, but neither of them reported his death. Instead, they kept the body in the house, first in the open, then wrapped in a deflated plastic air mattress sealed with tape. In an arrest affidavit reviewed by Court TV, investigators said Suzanne Agnew told them the body lay in the open for about a week before her eight Chihuahuas began “chewing” it and she moved it into plastic. Authorities did not find O’Neill’s body until 2025.
“When we couldn’t reach Jim, we worried,” O’Neill’s brother said at Monday’s hearing. “But we never could have imagined the nightmare actually taking place. For 18 months, Suzanne Agnew knew the truth. While we looked for Jim, she stole his money. She did not just hide his body, she stole our chance to grieve him. She stripped him of a proper burial, chose to let his remains be desecrated by her dogs and told our family that he was unavailable and did not want to talk to us. Every day for a year and a half, she prioritized an extra $967 a month over basic humanity,” he said, referencing the Social Security payments the Agnews continued to collect after O’Neill’s death.
“I can’t help wonder if Jim was really dead that morning,” his brother said. “As a firefighter, I’ve been on many calls where a family believes a loved one has passed, only to find that with proper medical intervention, their loved one had been revived. During my career, I’ve seen a lot of terrible things, but I have never seen anything like this.”
“This case isn’t about financial exploitation or poor judgment after a person’s death,” prosecutor Trevor Moritzky said Monday. “It is about sustained, calculated, and deeply disturbing conduct that reflects a profound disregard for human dignity.”
Suzanne Agnew’s attorney said that her client struggled with addiction after O’Neill’s death. “After Mr. O’Neill died, Ms. Agnew was in a fog,” her attorney said. “She slept on the floor next to his body every night. She grieved deeply and still grieves for the man who had been a constant in her life for 41 years. She admits that when Mr. Agnew asked her if they should call the police, she was not ready to let Mr. O’Neill go. She fell apart. She refused to open the doors or windows because she believed that his spirit would not leave her if she kept it contained.”
Suzanne Agnew spoke briefly at the hearing, which she attended virtually. “It is with great shame that I admit my lack of judgment has left me responsible for a reprehensible act,” she said. “Furthermore, my conduct has caused pain and suffering to others. I deeply regret the hurt, damage, and uncertainty that my actions have caused.”
The judge sentenced Suzanne Agnew to five years in prison for each charge, to be served concurrently, followed by three years of parole. The sentence matches the one handed down in April to James Agnew, who pleaded guilty to the same charges.
“This was not panic. This was not confusion,” Moritzky said in court. “This was a long-term course of deception that required repeated, conscious decisions to continue the fraud and maintain the concealment.”
