Six of the 24 bodies at Davis Mortuary have been identified, CBI says

PUEBLO, Colo. (KRDO) - The Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the 10th Judicial District Attorney's Office held a joint press conference on Wednesday at 11:30 a.m. to update the pace of the criminal investigation into Davis Mortuary. You can watch the full press conference below:

Brian Cotter, now-former Pueblo County Coroner, is accused of hiding bodies in a secret room of his privately-owned funeral home, Davis Mortuary.

He has since resigned as coroner, and an interim coroner has taken his place.

According to records by the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies (DORA), Brian Cotter's funeral home was due for an inspection in August. When inspectors arrived, they noted "a strong odor of decomposition."

Later, inspectors said they noticed a door was hidden by a cardboard display. When they went to remove the display, inspectors say Cotter asked them not to go inside, according to DORA's records.

Inspectors did not follow Cotter's request; when they entered, they said they found bodies in various stages of decomposition, DORA records allege.

The CBI says a total of 24 bodies from Davis Mortuary, along with multiple containers of bones and multiple containers of probable human tissue, were transferred to the El Paso County Coroner's Office for attempted identification.

In Wednesday's press conference, the CBI said that they have identified six of the 24 bodies. The CBI says they believe all the bodies were brought to the mortuary between 2010 and 2012.

The CBI says more than 600 people have filled out an online form identifying themself as someone who has used Davis Mortuary services. The forms are being used by the CBI to help identify the 24 bodies.

However, the CBI says that they are only reaching out to those whom they have reason to believe have a loved one who is one of the 24. The majority of the 600 families who have reached out to the CBI will likely never hear back from the agency, a spokesperson said on Wednesday.

As of publication, no criminal charges have been brought against mortuary co-owners Brian and Chris Cotter. The CBI says that they want to identify all of the bodies before the District Attorney's office files potential charges.

"As we've indicated from the very beginning, this is a slow and tedious process," said District Attorney Kala Beauvais. "I am determined to get this case right. The filing of charges will be done right the first time."

District Attorney Beauvais says they are likely months away from filing potential charges, though it is impossible to have an exact timeline.

KRDO13 spoke with former funeral home director Aaron Kucharik, who thinks this case needs to be handled differently.

"I'm appalled. I feel that it is a huge injustice to the victims of Pueblo County and of Davis Mortuary. I also feel that it is a slap in the face to all the taxpayers of Pueblo County that we are refusing to file any charges until everybody is investigated," said Kucharik.

However, D.A. Beauvais says she will not file any charges until she has the full investigation.

"I cannot act until the investigation is complete, because I will not risk violating constitutional, ethical or legal rules," explained the 10th Judicial District Attorney.

KRDO13 Investigates also asked investigators about the jars CBI identified as bones and probable human flesh.

"We found a lot of stuff there, obviously, the 24 bodies were all whole bodies, we believe right now. We're still looking into those other things that we found there. We really don't have an answer for that one just yet," Clint Thomason with the CBI continued, "It was a mortuary. So, to have something like that, it's not too unusual."

But when KRDO13 spoke with Kucharik, he said he's never seen jars with body parts or bones in his experience.

"There has never been a funeral home that I've been in in the past 15 years, where there has been a jar of any sort of human tissue or bones or human material," explained Kucharik.

The CBI says it has not questioned mortuary owners Brian and Chris Cotter, as both men have retained legal counsel.

The CBI said the Colorado Division of Insurance has opened a separate investigation into Davis Mortuary. CBI said if you or a loved one might have a pre-need funeral contract with Davis Mortuary and/or have questions about a contract, you can fill out this form.

To read all of our reports on this case, click here.

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