Colorado funeral home owners where decomposing bodies found returned to state to face charges

By James On Nov 25, 2023

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — The owners of a defunct Colorado funeral home where 190 decomposing human remains were found have been returned to the state and face hundreds of charges.

Carie Hallford appeared via video in court in Colorado Springs on Wednesday. District Judge Samorreyan Burney maintained her bail at $2 million during the hearing, KRDO-TV reported. Jon Hallford’s hearing was Friday and his bail also remained at $2 million.

Carie Hallford’s public defender had asked for her bail to be lowered to $50,000, citing her lack of a criminal record, but Burney noted she faced more than 250 felony charges. Both Hallfords face 190 counts of abuse of a corpse, more than 50 counts of forgery, five counts of theft and four counts of money laundering, according to federal court documents.

Neither has entered a plea. Their next court hearings are scheduled for December 5.

Court records show the Hallfords are both represented by the public defender’s office, which does not comment on cases to the media.

The case began in early October when the report of a “repulsive odor” led to the discovery of the bodies at a Return to Nature Funeral Home location in Penrose – about 35 miles southwest of Colorado Springs.

After the bodies were removed, officials said there were 190 sets of remains, some of which had been there for four years. The coroner’s office used fingerprints and medical records to identify the bodies, and would use DNA if necessary, officials said.

Family members were falsely told their loved ones had been cremated and received materials that were not their ashes, court records said.

The couple was arrested Nov. 8 at Jon Hallford’s father’s home in Oklahoma, according to a federal arrest warrant alleging they fled the state to avoid prosecution. The federal charges were dropped after their arrest.

Carie Hallford was booked into the El Paso County Jail in Colorado Springs on Tuesday and Jon Hallford was returned to Colorado on Wednesday.