Governor Calls for Coroner's Immediate Resignation After Rotting Corpses Discovered

Governor Jared Polis demanded Pueblo County Coroner Brian Cotter's immediate resignation today, August 22, after state inspectors discovered about twenty decomposing bodies behind a hidden door on Thursday at Cotter's Davis Mortuary in Pueblo.

Investigators say that families and other next-of-kin may have received fake cremains, and that the corpses behind the door could have been there up to fifteen years.

This state has a recent history of funeral home atrocities, and the trend doesn't seem to be abating. Colorado was the last state in the union to enact a formal licensing process for funeral home operators and directors, and that law was passed just over a year ago.

From 2010 to 2018, the operators of Sunset Mesa Funeral Home in Montrose illegally sold the bodies or body parts of hundreds of victims for research purposes without the knowledge or consent of the victims' families. In 2020, an unrefrigerated, rotting corpse, along with unlabeled cremains, were discovered in facilities in Leadville and Gypsum owned by Kent Funeral Homes, leading to the owner's prosecution. In October 2023, the decaying remains of nearly 200 people were found improperly stored at the Return to Nature Funeral Home in Penrose, resulting in a slew of charges for the facility's owners.

In the Pueblo case resulting from yesterday's inspection, Davis Mortuary has had its funeral home license suspended, but no charges have yet been filed against Cotter.

Cotter's case is unique in that as well as being a funeral home operator, he had been the elected county coroner for Pueblo County since 2014, earning $131,700 last year.

Along with calling for Cotter's immediate resignation, Polis declared a disaster emergency to use state resources to respond to the incident to protect public health and safety.

"I'm sickened for the families of the loved ones who are impacted by this unacceptable misconduct," Polis says in a statement. "It is clear public trust has been lost and Mr. Cotter must resign as the Pueblo County Coroner immediately. He should be investigated and if warranted, prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. No one should ever have to wonder if their loved one is being taken care of with dignity and respect after they've passed, and Mr. Cotter must be held to account for his actions."

According to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, the CBI and Pueblo County officials will hold a press conference today at 1 p.m. at the Pueblo County Sheriff's Office to announce updates in the investigation into Davis Mortuary.

"As has been previously shared, thanks to a new law passed in 2024 the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies’ (DORA) Division of Professions and Occupations recently conducted its first annual inspection at Davis Mortuary, located at 128 Broadway Ave. in Pueblo. As a result of that inspection, Davis Mortuary has been issued a summary suspension and all of its operations have ceased," part of the CBI announcement reads