Investigation of deaths discovered after fire focuses on homicide
Police say the body of a woman found after a fire last week is that of Janine Cuellar, 49.
LAKEWOOD – Police Monday characterized their probe into the deaths of two people found inside an apartment in the wake of a house fire last week as a “homicide investigation” and identified one of the victims.
The body of Janine Cuellar, 49, was found near the front door of her apartment at 6770 W. 14th Ave. shortly after 9 p.m. Aug. 18.
Neighbors said the fire followed a disturbance that rattled a neighborhood in Lakewood’s Two Creeks neighborhood.
The second body has yet to be identified, but police said Monday it is the body of an unidentified man.
“His identity remains uncertain due to the damage caused by the fire,” said Lakewood Police spokesman Sgt. Mark Reeves.
The Jefferson County Coroner’s Office is awaiting toxicology tests before releasing the cause of death. Those tests could take several weeks.
Investigators from West Metro Fire District, have not determined the cause and origin of the fire, but believe it was intentionally set, Reeves said.
Neighbors say the second victim was Cuellar’s boyfriend and reported the two were arguing just before the fire was first noticed.
David Cross, who lives just a few houses away from the fire scene, said he found the body of the woman after responding to a plea for help.
Shortly before 9 p.m. last Tuesday, Cross said, a distraught woman was banging at his door.
“She said her friend was getting beat up real bad, so I got in my car and drove around there,” Cross said.
Cross said he saw the smoke coming from the home and opened the door.
“Smoke was coming out so I yelled, then I looked down and saw the body. She was dead and she was laying right there in the doorway,” Cross said. “I don’t where the guy was, I didn’t go inside after that.”
West Metro dispatchers received the first report of the fire at 9:04 p.m. and firefighters were on the scene within two minutes.
“We got there very quickly. The crew saw the flames and smoke as they pulled up. They made their initial entry into the home and found the first victim,” said Cindy Matthews, West Metro spokeswoman.
As fire fighters moved further inside to attack the fire, they found the second victim.
“They got the fire put out and we made the decision at that point, because we had two victims, to do as little overhaul as possible so that we could preserve the scene for Lakewood police,” Matthews said.
The incident is the second time in less than a month West Metro fire fighters have found bodies in the wake of a house fire.
On July 28, the body of Bonnie Gilbert Bergen was found beneath collapsed debris in a home she rented in northwest Lakewood. Investigators later arrested Britt Allen Cox, 40, on suspicion of 1st degree murder in connection with Bergin’s death.
The cause of Bergin’s death is considered a key to the investigation and has not been released by police.
