Colorado mortuary owners charged with 125 counts of abuse of a corpse

Nearly one year after state officials discovered decomposing bodies hidden inside a Pueblo mortuary, the men believed responsible have been arrested.

Brian Cotter, 64, and Christopher Cotter, 60, were taken into custody on Thursday, June 25, according to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation. They each face 125 counts of abuse of a corpse, nine counts of forgery and 27 counts of theft, according to the 10th Judicial District Attorney’s Office.

The brothers owned Davis Mortuary in Pueblo, and Brian served as the coroner of Pueblo County. Their arrests are the latest development in a lengthy investigation that began with a surprise inspection in August 2025. State investigators noticed a strong odor inside the mortuary, leading them to a door hidden by a cardboard display, which Brian reportedly asked them not to enter.

Behind the door, investigators discovered 24 bodies in various states of decomposition. They also found containers of bones, human tissue and cremains from over 100 deceased individuals, according to Pueblo County District Attorney Kala Beauvais.

“We filed charges for each one that we could identify as a human body,” Beauvais said during a press conference on Thursday.

Officials have identified 19 of the victims using dental x-rays, fingerprints and DNA samples. The investigation is ongoing to identify remaining victims.

The identified remains are from people who died between 2010 and 2017, said CBI Director Armando Saldate III. Most victims were identified from the intact bodies, but two victims were identified from human tissue discovered in buckets, he added.

“The goal was to have all of the bodies identified by the filing of charges,” Beauvais said. “Once the victims were identified in the case, it then allowed CBI to investigate the theft and forgery charges.”

Some of the bodies had been awaiting cremation for 15 years, Brian reportedly told investigators. According to CBI, Brian admitted that he “may have” given fake cremains to the families of the deceased.

“The evidence uncovered during this investigation reveals a complete disregard for the dignity of the deceased and a profound betrayal of the trust placed in Davis Mortuary by families in our community,” Saldate said. “We are committed to ensuring that those responsible for these actions are held fully accountable.”

The grisly discovery adds to Colorado’s infamously troubled funeral home industry. Prior to 2024, Colorado was the only state in the nation that did not mandate any license or certification for funeral directors. The lack of oversight likely helped turn the state an epicenter of abuse and malpractice. 

In February 2024, authorities found the corpse of a 63-year-old woman inside a hearse as well as the cremated remains of at least 30 people at the Denver residence of former funeral home owner Miles Harford. Only four months earlier, the decaying remains of nearly 200 people were found improperly stored at the Return to Nature Funeral Home facility in Penrose. In 2023, Lake County Coroner Shannon Kent was discovered mixing cremated remains and mishandling bodies, and Sunset Mesa Funeral Home was found to be illegally selling the bodies or body parts of hundreds of victims without their families’ consent.

State legislators have since passed laws to regulate the funeral home industry in 2024, including House Bill 24-1335, which requires routine inspections of funeral homes and allows inspections outside of business hours.

The surprise inspection of Davis Mortuary that led to the scandal was the business’s first inspection since the new state law took effect.

Davis Mortuary had been licensed to operate as a funeral home since 2010. The business relinquished its license in October and Brian resigned as county coroner in September.

Both men are currently being held on a $1 million cash, surety or property bond, according to Beauvais.

They face up to 18 months in prison for each of the 125 counts of abuse of a corpse, which are class 6 felonies. They also face up to three years in prison for each of the 18 forgery and theft charges that are class 5 felonies.