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, located in Penrose, Colorado, a rural town about a two-hour drive south of Denver. Between 2019 and 2023, they are accused of piling the bodies inside the building, giving families fake ashes, and defrauding 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 were not in the urn or the ashes they ceremonially spread. Instead, the remains languished alongside nearly 190 other bodies.
The scene inside the funeral home 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 had 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 the sentencing was too lenient. Following this, Jon Hallford withdrew his guilty plea, and he is now scheduled for trial.
Currently, Carie Hallford’s plea deal is facing objections from victims. It remains unclear whether the judge will accept or reject her deal on Monday or at a later date.
In addition to corpse abuse, both Hallfords admitted in federal court to defrauding the U.S. Small Business Administration out of nearly $900,000 in pandemic-era aid. They also took payments from customers for cremations the funeral home never performed.
Officials revealed that the couple spent the defrauded money lavishly, purchasing 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://mymotherlode.com/news/national/10136858/judge-to-weigh-plea-deal-of-funeral-home-owner-accused-of-stashing-nearly-190-decaying-bodies.html
