Colorado Funeral Home Owner Faces Sentencing After Hiding 189 Bodies and Giving Families Fake Ashes

A Colorado funeral home owner who hid 189 decomposing bodies in a building and gave grieving families fake ashes is set to be sentenced Friday on multiple counts of corpse abuse.

Jon Hallford, co-owner of Return to Nature Funeral Home in Colorado Springs, pleaded guilty in December to nearly 200 charges. Under the plea agreement, he faces between 30 and 50 years in prison. His former wife and business partner, Carie Hallford, also pleaded guilty and is scheduled to be sentenced on April 24, facing 25 to 35 years behind bars.

Shocking Discovery in Colorado

Authorities say the Hallfords stored bodies in a neglected building in Penrose, Colorado, from 2019 to 2023. Investigators discovered the remains after neighbors reported a foul odor coming from the property.

Inside, officials found bodies stacked on top of one another, covered in insects and decomposition fluids. The remains included adults, infants, and fetuses, all kept at room temperature with no proper preservation.

Investigators believe the couple provided families with dry concrete powder instead of real cremated ashes.

It took months for officials to identify the remains using fingerprints, DNA, and dental records.

Families Left Devastated

For many families, the discovery was devastating. Relatives learned that the ashes they had kept or scattered were not actually their loved ones. Some said the revelation reopened their grief, while others described feelings of guilt and trauma.

One of the victims was a former U.S. Army sergeant who had been believed to be buried at a veterans’ cemetery. When officials exhumed the grave, they found the remains of a different person inside. The veteran was later given a proper burial with full military honors.

Federal Fraud Convictions

In addition to the state charges, the Hallfords were convicted of federal fraud after prosecutors said they stole nearly $900,000 in pandemic-era small business relief funds.

Jon Hallford was sentenced to 20 years in prison in that case last year. During his federal sentencing, he apologized in court, saying he had opened the funeral home to help people but eventually lost control.

“I still hate myself for what I’ve done,” he told the judge.

Prosecutors said that while the bodies were piling up, the couple spent large amounts of money on luxury purchases, including expensive vehicles, designer goods, cryptocurrency investments, and cosmetic procedures.

Regulatory Fallout

The shocking case exposed major weaknesses in Colorado’s oversight of funeral homes. In response, state lawmakers have begun tightening regulations that were previously among the loosest in the country.

Last year, District Judge Eric Bentley rejected earlier plea deals that would have capped the Hallfords’ prison sentences at 20 years. Families of the victims argued that those agreements were far too lenient given the scale of the abuse.

Carie Hallford is also awaiting federal sentencing on fraud charges next month.

Attorneys for the couple have not commented publicly on the case.