The married co-owners of a Colorado funeral house the place practically 200 decomposing our bodies have been discovered pleaded responsible Friday to corpse abuse.
Jon and Carie Hallford ran the Return to Nature Funeral Residence, which had operations within the Colorado Springs space and in Penrose, Colorado.
The stunning discovery was made on the Penrose location in October 2023, after the Fremont County Sheriff’s Workplace responded to studies from residents of a foul odor coming from the ability. A few of the our bodies discovered had died way back to 2019, officers mentioned.
The 2 pleaded responsible to 191 counts of abuse of a corpse, 4th Judicial District Legal professional Michael Allen, whose workplace prosecuted the case, mentioned. The counts embrace two cases the place the unsuitable our bodies have been buried.
The decide accepted their pleas throughout a listening to on Friday, although has not but accepted the plea agreements and can reserve judgment for that till sentencing subsequent 12 months, Allen mentioned.
This mixture of reserving photographs supplied by the Muskogee County, Okla., Sheriff’s Workplace exhibits Jon Hallford, left, and Carie Hallford, the house owners of Return to Nature Funeral Residence.
Muskogee County Sheriff’s Workplace by way of AP/FILE
Carie Hallford faces 15 to twenty years in jail, and Jon Hallford faces 20 years, the district legal professional mentioned.
Their sentencing has been scheduled for April 18, 2025.
“Clearly this case has been an enormous, emotional wrestle for the entire households which are current,” Allen mentioned outdoors the El Paso County courthouse on Friday. “The influence on these relations has been immense.”
He acknowledged that the victims will “probably by no means recuperate” from the violation of belief however that his workplace was honored to “obtain justice for them.”
The Return to Nature funeral house in Penrose, Colo., on Oct. 4, 2023.
KRDO
Following the invention of the our bodies, investigators uncovered a scheme wherein the couple had been defrauding clients who believed their family members can be buried or cremated, in line with courtroom paperwork.
The couple beforehand admitted in a associated federal case to accepting fee for the providers however then by no means performing them — in some circumstances offering dry concrete combine in urns rather than cremains, in line with courtroom paperwork.
The couple admitted to accumulating greater than $130,000 from victims for cremation or burial providers which they by no means carried out over a greater than four-year interval, courtroom paperwork present. Additionally they admitted to conspiring to defraud the U.S. Small Enterprise Administration of greater than $800,000 in COVID-19 pandemic reduction funds, in line with courtroom paperwork.
Each pleaded responsible final month within the federal case to 1 depend every of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. They’re scheduled to be sentenced in that case on March 20, 2025. They every withstand 20 years in federal jail, prosecutors mentioned.
Allen mentioned it’s conceivable that the state jail sentence would run concurrent to the federal sentence.
Carie Hallford’s bond was revoked throughout Friday’s listening to and she or he was remanded into custody. Her legal professional declined to remark to ABC Information.
Jon Hallford was already in custody. He’s represented by the general public defender’s workplace, which doesn’t touch upon circumstances.
