Key Takeaways
- The owners of a Colorado funeral home, Carie and Jon Hallford, have pleaded guilty to the abuse of 191 corpses.
- The couple is accused of maintaining a lavish lifestyle while giving fake ashes to some families of the dead and dumping bodies in a room-temperature building.
- The latest plea agreements would have Jon Hallford sentenced to between 30 and 50 years and Carie Hallford to between 25 and 35 years.
- Victims’ family members are seeking stricter punishments, with some calling for each of the Hallfords to be sentenced to 191 years, one year for each victim.
- The case has triggered reforms in the funeral home industry, including routine inspections, in response to the weaknesses in Colorado’s regulations.
Introduction to the Case
A judge has accepted guilty pleas from the owners of a Colorado funeral home, Carie and Jon Hallford, for the abuse of 191 corpses. The couple, who operated Return to Nature Funeral Home in Colorado Springs, maintained a lavish lifestyle while giving fake ashes to some families of the dead. The abuse occurred between 2019 and 2023, and the couple is accused of dumping bodies in a room-temperature building in Penrose, a small town about a two-hour drive south of Denver. The scene was described as horrific, with bodies stacked atop each other in various states of decay, some having been there for four years.
The Plea Agreements
The latest plea agreements would have Jon Hallford sentenced to between 30 and 50 years and Carie Hallford to between 25 and 35 years. However, victims’ family members are seeking stricter punishments, with some calling for each of the Hallfords to be sentenced to 191 years, one year for each victim. A statement by a group of victims’ family members expressed their desire to have the cases proceed to trial, stating that accepting a plea agreement sends the message that this level of abuse is negotiable. The judge earlier this year rejected previous plea agreements that called for up to 20 years in prison, with family members of the deceased saying the proposed punishments were too lenient.
The Investigation and Charges
The Hallfords are accused of dumping bodies and giving families fake ashes between 2019 and 2023. Last year, both pleaded guilty to 191 counts of corpse abuse. However, Jon Hallford’s plea deal was rejected in August, after which he withdrew his guilty plea. Carie Hallford withdrew her guilty plea in early November after it was rejected by State District Judge Eric Bentley in a rare decision. Investigators have described finding the bodies in 2023 stacked atop each other in a bug-infested building in Penrose. The scene was horrific, officials said, with bodies stacked atop each other in various states of decay, some having been there for four years.
The Reforms Triggered by the Case
The Return to Nature case has helped trigger reforms in the funeral home industry, including routine inspections. Colorado, for many years, had some of the weakest funeral home industry regulations in the nation, leading to numerous abuse cases involving fake ashes, fraud, and even the illegal selling of body parts. In August, authorities announced that during their first inspection of a funeral home owned by the county coroner in Pueblo, Colorado, they found 24 decomposing corpses behind a hidden door. That investigation is pending as authorities have reported slow progress in identifying corpses that, in some cases, have languished for more than a decade.
The Hallfords’ Other Crimes
The Hallfords also have admitted in federal court to defrauding the US Small Business Administration of nearly $900,000 in pandemic-era aid and taking payments from customers for cremations the funeral home never performed. This has added to the outrage and calls for stricter punishments from victims’ family members. The Hallfords’ actions have been described as a betrayal of trust and a disregard for human dignity. The case has sparked widespread condemnation and has led to a re-examination of the funeral home industry’s regulations and practices.
Conclusion
The case of the Hallfords and the Return to Nature Funeral Home has highlighted the need for stricter regulations and oversight in the funeral home industry. The abuse of 191 corpses is a horrific crime that has caused immense pain and suffering to the families of the victims. The plea agreements and sentencing will be closely watched, and the case is likely to have a lasting impact on the industry. The reforms triggered by the case, including routine inspections, are a step in the right direction, but more needs to be done to prevent such abuses from happening again in the future.
