FORT COLLINS, Colo. (AP) — Police on Thursday arrested two Colorado men, including a former county coroner, for allegedly mishandling at least two dozen decomposing bodies and other remains found behind a hidden door in a funeral home.Charges filed against former Pueblo County Coroner Brian Lee Cotter, 65, and his brother, Christopher Aaron Cotter, 60, included 125 counts of abuse of a corpse, according to a Colorado Bureau of Investigation statement.Police arrested the men in Pueblo, and they were jailed on $1 million bond. They were set to appear in state court for the first time Friday afternoon in Pueblo, according to court documents.Last summer, state inspectors found remains behind a hidden door in the Davis Mortuary in Pueblo about 110 miles (177 kilometers) south of Denver. The inspectors found a “strong odor of decomposition” after arriving at the business owned by the two brothers.
The men had no attorney on record in court documents to comment on their behalf. The Associated Press left phone messages Thursday for Brian Cotter and relatives of the brothers. Brian Cotter allegedly told inspectors at the time he may have given fake ashes to next of kin who sought cremations. He resigned as coroner in September.
