{"id":2014,"date":"2026-06-25T20:34:32","date_gmt":"2026-06-25T20:34:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=2014"},"modified":"2026-06-25T20:34:32","modified_gmt":"2026-06-25T20:34:32","slug":"colorado-mortuary-owners-accused-of-hiding-decomposing-bodies-arrested-on-hundreds-of-felony-charges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=2014","title":{"rendered":"Colorado mortuary owners accused of hiding decomposing bodies arrested on hundreds of felony charges"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div><strong>Getting your Trinity Audio player ready&#8230;<\/strong><\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Two Colorado funeral home owners suspected of storing decomposing bodies in a hidden back room of their Pueblo mortuary for over a decade were arrested Thursday morning on hundreds of felony charges, according to state investigators.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=2012\">Lemonade stand at 14,438 feet educates Colorado hikers about backcountry safety<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Davis Mortuary owners Chris and Brian Cotter were each arrested on suspicion of 125 counts of abuse of a corpse, a class six felony; nine counts of forgery, a class five felony; nine counts of theft as a class five felony; nine counts of theft as a class six felony; seven counts of theft as a class one misdemeanor and two counts of theft as a class two misdemeanor, Pueblo County District Attorney Kala Beauvais said during a Thursday news conference.<\/p>\n<p>If convicted on all charges and sentenced consecutively, the Cotter brothers could each face up to 255 years in prison and roughly 7.5 years in county jail, according to sentencing ranges given by Beauvais on Thursday.<\/p>\n<p>The Colorado Bureau of Investigation began investigating 64-year-old Brian Cotter, who was the Pueblo County coroner at the time, and his brother Chris Cotter, 60, in August, after state inspectors found human remains behind a hidden door during a surprise inspection of the mortuary. That included 24 bodies and several containers of bones, cremains and human tissue.<\/p>\n<p>Brian Cotter stepped down from his position as coroner in late August after dozens of state and local officials called for his resignation.<\/p>\n<p>At least 125 victims were found behind the door, most of them cremains, Beauvais said. As of Thursday, 19 of the 24 bodies discovered had been identified, she said. Abuse charges were filed for each of the remains that investigators were able to confirm were human, even if they were not yet able to identify the victim.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=2010\">Colorado weather: Storms bring tornado, 3-inch hail to Eastern Plains, flooding to foothills<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Several victims\u2019 remains were kept in buckets, CBI Director Armando Saldate said Thursday.<\/p>\n<p>Identifying the bodies has been difficult because of the lack of mortuary records, the poor condition of the remains and degraded DNA, state investigators said in May. The goal was to identify all the bodies before filing charges, Beauvais said, but it\u2019s unclear if investigators will be able to identify the last five victims in the near future.<\/p>\n<div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cWe won\u2019t give up on that,\u201d Saldate said.<\/p>\n<p>The two dozen bodies found in the Cotters\u2019 hidden room likely died between 2010 and 2012, but some of the other remains are believed to have been from as recent as 2017, Saldate said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are dedicated to providing as much clarity and closure as possible for the families whose loved ones were entrusted to this funeral home,\u201d Beauvais said during the news conference. \u201cWe know that the families, as well as our community, want swift justice. I cannot give an exact timeline; however, a lengthy court process is to be expected.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=2008\">US Senator warns of administration plan to hastily remove over 500 unaccompanied migrant children<\/a><\/p>\n<p><em>This is a developing story.<\/em><\/p>\n<div>\n<\/div>\n<p><em>Sign up to get crime news sent straight to your inbox each day.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Davis Mortuary owners Chris and Brian Cotter of Pueblo were arrested Thursday morning, the Colorado Bureau of Investigation said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2013,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2014","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-crime-and-public-safety","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - 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