Ray William Johnson: True Story Podcast - He Lived With a Dead Body For 18 Months - The James and Suzanne Agnew Story

Episode Date: October 12, 2025

James and Suzanne Agnew, a couple from Lakewood, Colorado, were arrested in July 2025 after authorities discovered the decomposed body of 64-year-old James O'Neill in their home. The Agnews allegedly kept O'Neill's body under a deflated air mattress for nearly 18 months following his death.

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You really, really aren't ready for this one. Now, this story starts with this guy. His name's James, and James is 55 living in Colorado. Here's the thing about James. I guess bro really likes to smash. Because he has a wife, this woman, Suzanne, but James and Suzanne are also both in a long-term relationship with this guy, O'Neill. And so I guess they all smash together.

I don't know how that works, but they're all three together. They're a thruple, and they all three live together. And one night in 2023, the three of them are at their condo. And they are apparently partying a bit hard. Like there's a bit of cocaine, a bit of meth, and they're just having a good time. And afterwards, O'Neill lays down to go to sleep, and unfortunately, he doesn't wake up. And so the next morning, Suzanne wakes up in her bed and she looks over to the floor where O'Neill's air mattresses, because he sleeps on an air mattress next to their bed, and Suzanne

sees O'Neill, and she's like, oh shit, I think O'Neill's dead. And James looks over and he's like, yep. And so they check his pulse and James tries to perform CPR on him, but no luck. O'Neill is definitely no longer alive, and it seems like he may have partied a little too hard and, you know, Odeed. So now, James is like, let's call police. But Suzanne is like, Nah, because she isn't ready to give him up. And so that's what they do. They just leave O'Neill's body there in the condo, right there on the air mattress next to their bed.

Now, around this time, I guess one of O'Neill's Social Security checks comes in the mail, because, you know, he's getting Social Security. And James and Suzanne are like, oh shit, O'Neill's money. And they realize that no one knows O'Neill is dead. And as long as no one knows that, his Social Security checks will keep coming in. And since he doesn't really need that money anymore, because he's no longer living, maybe they could just, you know, keep it for themselves. And to make it worse, they also have the PIN number to his debit card. So they can just deposit these checks into his account, and boom,

they can spend all his money. So both James and Suzanne start using O'Neill's debit card to fund their life. Suzanne starts buying things she needs online from like a beauty supply store. They pay off their cable internet bill and their insurance bill. James is buying a bunch of shit he wants as well. He even spends it on like random stuff at like 7-Eleven. And about a week goes by and O'Neill is still laying there on their air mattress in their room. And I would assume at this point it would like start to smell or something, but I guess James and Suzanne don't mind. But here's who does mind. James and Suzanne Chihuahuas. They actually have eight Chihuahuas.

And at some point, at least one or some of them start sniffing around O'Neill's body. And they start chewing on him and I guess eating him? And one day, James and Suzanne hear the dogs in the bedroom chewing on this body. And so they go there and they're like, oh shit, the dogs are eating O'Neill. But I guess they're not worried enough to bury O'Neill. Instead, Suzanne decides to just throw the deflated air mattress over him to keep the dogs off. because, you know, the dogs can't chew through the mattress. And that apparently works because from here, the dog stop trying to eat O'Neill.

Oh, and it gets worse because James and Suzanne keep this whole thing going. They don't report O'Neill dead or missing or anything. And they keep spending his social security checks. And 18 months go by. That is a year and a half. A year and a half. and O'Neill's body is still just laying there on the floor in the bedroom underneath the deflated air mattress, who the hell knows how bad it smells at this point?

And not only that, by this point, they've stolen more than $17,000 out of O'Neill's bank accounts. And that is when this guy comes in. We'll just call him brother, because he's O'Neill's estranged brother. Well, brother wants to get a hold of O'Neill, but he can't get through. No matter how many times he tries. And of course, brother doesn't know that O'Neill has passed away. He's just not sure what's going on. Anyways, after no luck getting through, he eventually reaches out to the police for help.

And he asks them to do a welfare check on his brother O'Neill. And so police, they go to the address where they think O'Neill could be staying, which is James and Suzanne's condo, and they knock on the door and James answers. And James is like, hey, but in his mind, he's probably like, oh, fuck! And so police, they ask him what his name is. And James is like, I'm James. Here's the thing, though. O'Neill's name is also James, James.

James O'Neill. And so police now believe that they are talking to O'Neill. And James knows this, but he's just, you know, he's just going to keep letting them believe it. And so police are like, cool, your family's worried about you. So what's up with that? And James, pretending to be O'Neill, is like, well, tell my brother, I don't want to see him.

And I want to be left to be left. and peace and the police are like, all right. And so police go back to Brother and they tell him, O'Neal is fine and he doesn't want you to contact him anymore. But then they show Brother the body cam footage of their interaction with who they believe Neil is. And Brother watches it and he's like, that's not my brother. So police, they go back to James's condo and they question him and Suzanne.

And James and Suzanne admit that they do actually know O'Neal, but they each give very conflicting stories. on where he might be. So police are like, yeah, this is suspicious. And so they file a missing person's report for O'Neill, but they can't prove James and Suzanne have done anything wrong. But brother, he's not going to give up. He knows these two weirdos know something about O'Neill's disappearance.

And so, brother comes up with a plan to try and trick James and Suzanne into admitting that they know where O'Neill is. So he calls Suzanne and he's like, hi, I really need to talk to O'Neill. because he's got some inheritance and I want to give him his share. And Suzanne is like, inheritance, say less. Because, you know, she's probably thinking that if O'Neill gets an inheritance, that she and James will get access to it. So Zuzanne tells Brother that O'Neill is here.

He's sitting right next to me, but he doesn't want to talk to you. So then brother says he needs O'Neill's Social Security number and his bank account info so that he can deposit the inheritance into his account. So Suzanne gives it to him. And brother says, cool, one more thing. O'Neill is going to have to sign for his inheritance at the bank in person. And that is when Suzanne just gives up and she stops talking to him. So that plan didn't work.

But now, brother has something to work with. So using the information Suzanne gave him, he starts digging into O'Neill's bank accounts. And he sees that not only are O'Neill's Social Security checks hitting his bank account every month, but there's also a lot of spending activity going on and a ton of ATM withdrawals. And so, brother, he takes this to police, and they start investigating. And they are able to track O'Neill's debit card to a local 7-Eleven where James had been using it. And when they look at the surveillance footage from that day and time, they see James,

not O'Neill, using O'Neill's card. Here's an actual surveillance image of James entering the store. And so police, they get a warrant and they go back to the condo and Suzanne meets them outside. And police tell her that they're going in. And Suzanne doesn't even hesitate. She's just like, yeah, Neil's in the bedroom and he's dead under the air mattress. And so, bam, the police arrest James. Here's his mugshot.

Also, bam, they arrest Suzanne. Here's her mugshot. And they actually haven't been to trial yet. So all of this is obviously alleged, even though they have, admitted to doing. Jackson Hewitt has a great tax prep deal, $149 or less. Missing out is like ignoring the check engine light in your car. You regret it. Seriously, the price is only 149 or less, no matter how complicated. So don't wait. Like when you get a password expires today alert or you're shopping online and there's only one item left. It's like your taxes are in the cart. Just complete the purchase.

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