Couple Lived Alongside Threesome Lover's Corpse for a Year as Dogs Chewed on Body: Affidavit  By Samira Asma-Sadeque

A Colorado couple has been arrested after police allegedly found their lover’s dead body rotting in their home.

The victim, 64-year-old James O’Neill, was found deceased in the Lakewood, Colo., home on July 3, days after his brother requested a welfare check on him, Lakewood police said in an arrest affidavit.

James David Agnew, 55, and his wife Suzanne Agnew, 57, were arrested on several charges, including tampering with a corpse, but have not been charged in connection with O’Neill’s death.

The arrests and charges were first revealed by an investigation by 9 NEWS Investigates.

Suzanne Agnew told detectives she, James Agnew and O’Neill were in a three-way relationship for years, per authorities.

The arrest affidavit for James Agnew, shared online by Law & Crime and reviewed by PEOPLE, claims when Lakewood police showed up at the Agnews’ residence for the welfare check, they spoke with James Agnew who allegedly pretended to be James O’Neill, telling police he wanted nothing to do with his family, per the affidavit.

When shown bodycam footage of the interaction, O’Neill’s brother told police the man they spoke with was not him.

Upon further inquiry, police say James Agnew told them that O’Neill never lived at the residence, before both him and Suzanna allegedly indicated that he did live there but had moved out.

Following a further investigation, police learned James Agnew allegedly used O’Neill’s bank account for regular transactions.

The investigation also uncovered an emergency dispatch call from James O’Neill in December 2023, when he said his roommate was “making threats” to him, but said he did not want police to show up at the residence, per the affidavit.

On July 3, while executing a search warrant at the Agnews’ residence, investigators found a deceased body presumed to be O’Neill’s, per the affidavit.

Suzanne allegedly told police that about two weeks after the dispatch call made by O’Neill in December 2023, she awoke to find him deceased in the house and refused to call the police because she did not want to “give up” Jim, per the affidavit.

She allegedly said the couple decided to hide O’Neill’s body under an air mattress because her chihuahuas began “chewing” on his body.

Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up for PEOPLE’s free True Crime newsletter for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases.

James has been charged with abuse of a corpse, tampering with a corpse, theft and unauthorized use of a financial device, per the affidavit.

Suzanne is also facing the same charges, 9NEWS reported.

It wasn’t immediately clear if they have entered pleas or retained attorneys to speak on their behalf. Online court records show James Agnew is due in court for his arraignment next month, and Suzanne is due in court for a preliminary hearing later this month.

If you are experiencing domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or go to thehotline.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.