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. Brian Cotter was set to appear in state court for the first time Friday afternoon in Pueblo, according to court documents.
Brian Cotter’s attorneys said in a statement to The Associated Press that he has been cooperative throughout the investigation and will continue to cooperate throughout the judicial process “in hopes of bringing closure and peace to everyone impacted by this case.”
No attorney was listed in court records Thursday for Christopher Cotter. The Associated Press left phone messages Thursday for relatives of the brothers.
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.
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.
Investigators have identified 19 of the 24 bodies recovered plus the remains of two people whose tissue was found in containers at the mortuary site, according to the investigators’ statement.
The bodies and “numerous skeletal remains” were allegedly stored in conditions that grossly violated professional and ethical standards, the statement alleged.
Containers marked as cremains and containing "human skeletal material” were found in disarray, with many lacking proper identification, the investigators alleged.
“The evidence uncovered during this investigation reveals a complete disregard for the dignity of the deceased and the trust placed in Davis Mortuary by families in our community,” CBI Director Armando Saldate said in a statement. “We are committed to ensuring that those responsible for these actions are held accountable.”
The discovery in Pueblo came during the first inspection of Davis Mortuary under rules adopted in 2024 in response to prior crimes within Colorado’s funeral industry.
Colorado long had some of the weakest oversight of funeral homes in the nation. The state did not require routine inspections or set qualifications for people to become funeral home operators.
Numerous abuses resulted. They included nearly 200 decomposing bodies kept at room temperature in a building in Penrose, Colorado, about 30 miles (48 kilometers) from Pueblo.
Associated Press reporter Jessica Hill in Las Vegas contributed to this story.
This undated photo provided by the Pueblo County Sheriff’s Office shows Brian Cotter. (Gayle Perez/Pueblo County Sheriff’s Office via AP)
This undated photo provided by the Pueblo County Sheriff’s Office shows Christopher Cotter. (Gayle Perez/Pueblo County Sheriff’s Office via AP)
FILE - This image from video provided by KRDO13 shows Davis Mortuary in Pueblo, Colo., Aug. 21, 2025. (KRDO13 via AP, File)
CHASKA, Minn. (AP) — Ina Yoon matched the best score in the history of the Women's PGA Championship with a 9-under 63 to take a two-stroke lead over Karis Davidson on Thursday in the third major of the season.
Yoon, a 23-year-old South Korean seeking her first LPGA Tour victory, birdied five of her last six holes at Hazeltine National Golf Club with a putter that was consistently on point.
Nelly Korda, who’s aiming to become just the third women to win the first three major tournaments on the schedule, had a 70.
Davidson, who finished more than four hours after Yoon, had eight birdies on the way to a career-best 65 on a calm and partly cloudy afternoon that yielded a bevy of low scores on the long course southwest of Minneapolis that requires accuracy and muscle off the tee.
Alexa Pano and A Lim Kim were tied for third 67, and Aline Krauter, Hye-Jin Choi and Megan Kang followed at 68.
Korda (second round in 2021) and Patty Sheehan (third round in 1984) also posted 9-under 63s at previous Women’s PGA Championships.
Yoon logged the fourth-best first-round score at any major since at least 1980, trailing Hyo Joo Kim at the Evian Championship in 2014 (10-under 61), Mirim Lee at the Women’s British Open in 2016 (10-under 61), and Lorena Ochoa at the Kraft Nabisco Championship (10-under 62).
The 39th-ranked player in the world, Yoon sounded like she surprised even herself with the stellar start.
“I just hit the golf ball and it just dropped in the hole and it was really an awesome experience,” Yoon said, later explaining her mental approach: “Just try to think nothing. Focus on what I need to do. Focus on process. That part I think I did great today.”
Davidson, who has made cuts in 15 straight tournaments for the third-longest active streak on tour behind Korda (31) and Celine Boutier (20), is also seeking her first career victory.
“Hit a lot of fairways. Hit a lot of greens. Putting was pretty on today. Really felt like I was going to hole everything,” Davidson said. “So it was a pretty perfect round.”
Davidson, a 27-year-old Australian, had her best finish earlier this year with a tie for fifth at the Aramco Championship in April. Fellow countrymate and close friend Hannah Green won the Women’s PGA Championship in 2019, the last time it was at Hazeltine.
Jeeno Thitikul, the second-ranked player in the world who's seeking her first career major, shot a 69. This is the fifth time she has finished the first round in the top 10 in a major, including the Women's PGA Championship last year. The Thai star broke 70 in official regular stroke play last season 45 times, the second-highest total on tour.
The runaway LPGA tour scoring leader at the midpoint of the season, Korda double-bogeyed the lakeside 16th hole with “one bad swing” that landed in a pond to the left for a first-shot penalty stroke.
“I just overturned it. By now you just feel it when it’s bad. So the wind was off the right and I actually I think just made a too fast of a swing and I was kind of in between clubs,” Korda said. “It’s a pretty intimidating tee shot, and I just didn’t really like the way I hit it off the start.”
Korda's 19-foot putt on the 18th green stopped an inch from the hole before she tapped in for par, finishing about the same time as Yoon, who wrapped up nearby on the ninth hole. Inbee Park (2013) and Babe Zaharias (1950) are the only women in golf history to win the first three majors in one calendar year.
Amanda Doherty had hole-in-one on the 17th in a 72.
AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf
Nelly Korda lines up a putt on the seventh green during the first round of the Women's PGA Championship golf tournament, Thursday, June 25, 2026, in Chaska, Minn. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)
Nelly Korda walks onto the 16th green during the first round of the Women's PGA Championship golf tournament, Thursday, June 25, 2026, in Chaska, Minn. (AP Photo/Matt York)
Ina Yoon, of South Korea, hits from a bunker on the second hole during the first round of the Women's PGA Championship golf tournament, Friday, June 25, 2026, in Chaska, Minn. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)
Alexa Pano reacts after an eagle on the 11th hole during the first round of the Women's PGA Championship golf tournament, Thursday, June 25, 2026, in Chaska, Minn. (AP Photo/Matt York)
Ina Yoon, of South Korea, hits from the third tee during the first round of the Women's PGA Championship golf tournament, Thursday, June 25, 2026, in Chaska, Minn. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)
