Members of the Colorado State Highway Patrol hazmat group prepare to go into the Davis Mortuary on August 21, 2025, in Pueblo, Colo.|Image Credit: AP
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Authorities stated Tuesday (August 26, 2025) they eliminated 2 lots decomposing bodies and several containers of bones and most likely human tissue after finding stays recently behind a covert door of a Colorado funeral service home owned by the regional county coroner.
The homes of Pueblo County Coroner Brian Cotter and his sibling, Davis Mortuary co-owner Chris Cotter, were likewise browsed as part of the criminal examination into the funeral home in Pueblo, about 175 kilometres south of Denver, the Colorado Bureau of Investigation stated.
Neither bro has actually been apprehended or charged as an examination that is anticipated to be prolonged continues. The Cotters have actually not been questioned since they maintained attorneys, CBI stated.
Brian Cotter’s attorney, David Beller, did not instantly supply a remark. It wasn’t instantly understood who was representing Chris Cotter.
The company formerly stated that a minimum of 20 decomposing bodies were discovered at the mortuary on August 20 by inspectors who saw a strong smell and discovered the bodies concealed behind a cardboard display screen. Brian Cotter had actually asked the inspectors not to go into the space, according to authorities.
Pueblo County Commissioners on Tuesday (August 26, 2025) restored their require Cotter, who is a chosen authorities, to resign and prevent an expensive recall election. Colorado Gov. Jared Polis has likewise prompted him to step down. Cotter stays the county’s coroner, however coroners from 2 neighboring counties are running his workplace, CBI stated.
Brian Cotter informed inspectors from the state Department of Regulatory Agencies that a few of the bodies had actually been waiting for cremation for about 15 years, according to a file describing why the funeral home’s license was suspended. Cotter likewise informed them he might have provided phony ashes to households who desired their enjoyed ones cremated, the department stated.
Colorado long had a few of the weakest oversight of funeral homes in the country, without any regular evaluations. That’s enabled various abuses, consisting of a pending case including almost 200 decomposing bodies discovered in a structure in Penrose, Colorado, about 50 kilometres from Pueblo.
