ASPEN, Colo. -- Pitkin County and the city of Aspen are offering to help pay for the criminal defense of two current and former employees indicted in the 2008 carbon monoxide deaths of a Denver couple and their two children.

Pitkin County officials said Wednesday they will be paying for the defense of building-plans examiner Brian Pawl. The county said it may also help pay for part of the defense of Erik Peltonen, a now retired building inspector. Aspen is also offering to help Peltonen with his legal fees.

Peltonen and Pawl both face four counts of misdemeanor reckless endangerment and Peltonen faces an additional four charges of criminally negligent homicide. A third man, Marlin Brown was also charged with four counts criminal negligent homicide and four counts of reckless endangerment, according to court records. Brown is the owner of Roaring Fork Plumbing and Heating, which installed the boiler and pipes at the home, Assistant Deputy District Attorney Arnold Mordkin said.

Parker and Caroline Lofgren, along with their children, Owen, 10 and Sophie, 8, bought a weekend stay at the luxury home at a church auction.

Friends joining them for the holiday weekend found the family of four dead from the deadly gas leak in the home.

Investigators determined a combination of mechanical, electrical and plumbing problems caused the leak.

"The pipes vented the carbon monoxide exhaust, instead of outside through the pipes, the pipes were broken, and it vented it inside the house," Mordkin told 7NEWS.