A Colorado funeral home owner accused of stashing nearly 190 decaying bodies in a bug-infested building took a plea deal last year for abusing corpses. However, on Monday, family members of the deceased will argue that the deal’s 15- to 20-year sentence isn’t enough.
Carie Hallford and her husband, Jon Hallford, owned Return to Nature Funeral Home and are accused of piling the bodies in the building in a rural town between 2019 and 2023. They allegedly gave families fake ashes and defrauded the federal government out of nearly $900,000.
Families who believed they had honored their loved ones’ wishes with a cremation later discovered that their son’s, husband’s, or mother’s remains weren’t in the urn or the ashes they ceremonially spread. Instead, the remains were found among nearly 190 other bodies languishing at the facility.
The scene inside the building in Penrose, Colorado—about a two-hour drive south of Denver—was described by officials as horrific. Decomposition fluid covered the floor, bugs swarmed, and bodies were stacked atop each other in various states of decay, some having been there for as long as four years.
Last year, both Jon and Carie Hallford pleaded guilty to 191 counts of corpse abuse. However, State District Judge Eric Bentley rejected Jon Hallford’s plea deal in August after victims argued that the proposed sentencing was too lenient. Following this, Jon Hallford withdrew his guilty plea and is now scheduled for trial.
Currently, Carie Hallford’s plea deal is set to face victims’ objections. It remains unclear whether the judge will accept or reject the deal on Monday or at a later date.
In addition to the abuse of corpses, both Hallfords admitted in federal court to defrauding the U.S. Small Business Administration out of nearly $900,000 in pandemic-era aid and taking payments from customers for cremations the funeral home never performed.
Officials revealed that the couple spent the fraudulently obtained money lavishly, purchasing items such as a GMC Yukon, laser body sculpting treatments, vacations, jewelry, and cryptocurrency.
After pleading guilty in federal court, Jon Hallford was sentenced to 20 years in prison. Carie Hallford’s sentencing in the federal case is scheduled for December.
https://ktar.com/national-news/judge-to-weigh-plea-deal-of-funeral-home-owner-accused-of-stashing-nearly-190-decaying-bodies/5769279/
