Embattled Pueblo County coroner Brian Cotter is facing calls for resignation from state and local officials while investigators say the criminal investigation into 20 decomposing bodies found at his mortuary this week could take “a significant amount of time.”
Cotter has not resigned from his elected position and has not been arrested, officials from the Colorado Bureau of Investigation and Pueblo County district attorney and sheriff’s offices said at a Friday afternoon news conference.
State inspectors found at least 20 decaying bodies in a hidden room at Davis Mortuary in Pueblo during an annual inspection on Wednesday, and Cotter admitted some of the corpses had been there for 15 years and he may have given families fake ashes.
Gov. Jared Polis and Pueblo County Sheriff David Lucero both called for Cotter’s resignation during the news conference, but said there may be few, if any, other options to remove him from office outside of a recall election.
All operations at the Pueblo County Coroner’s Office are now being handled by the Fremont and El Paso county coroners, Lucero said.
Investigating Cotter and his brother, Chris, could take a significant amount of time, CBI Director Armando Saldate and Pueblo County District Attorney Kala Beauvais said Friday.
“This is going to be a long and complex case. We have a lot of forensic evidence to process and a great deal of information to sort through from the public and in our initial findings,” Saldate said.
Even identifying the remains could take months, Saldate said.
“The state of some of the remains and the need for scientific confirmation such as DNA analysis means we must be thorough and deliberate to ensure accuracy,” he added.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
Sign up to get crime news sent straight to your inbox each day.