Colorado funeral home owners accused of 100's of corpse abuse to plead guilty

Jesse Bedayn
| Associated Press/Report for America

Denver — The owners of a Colorado funeral home are expected to plead guilty Friday to criminal charges accusing them of leaving 190 bodies to rot and giving fake ashes to grieving relatives.

Allegedly, Jon and Carie Hallford, owners of Back to Nature Funeral Home, began storing bodies in a decrepit building near Colorado Springs starting in 2019, giving families dry concrete instead of cremated remains. The horrific discovery last year turned the family’s mourning process upside down.

Prosecutors say the Hallfords spent lavishly over the years. They used clients’ money and nearly $900,000 in pandemic relief funds to buy laser body contouring, luxury cars, trips to Las Vegas and Florida, $31,000 worth of cryptocurrency and other luxury items, according to court records.

Last month, the Hallfords pleaded guilty to federal fraud charges in a deal in which they admitted defrauding customers and the federal government. The two were indicted in state court on more than 200 counts related to corpse abuse, theft, forgery and money laundering.

Jon Hallford is represented by the public defender’s office, which does not comment on cases. Carie Hallford’s attorney, Michael Stuzynski, declined to comment.

For four years, Back to Nature clients scattered what they thought were their loved ones’ ashes in meaningful places, sometimes just a plane ride away. Others carried their vases on cross-country journeys or kept them tightly at home.

The bodies, which prosecutors say were improperly stored, were discovered last year after neighbors reported a foul odor coming from a building in the small town of Penrose, southwest of Colorado Springs.

Authorities found bodies piled on top of each other, some infested with insects. Among these were remains so decomposed that they could not be visually identified. The building was so toxic that responders had to wear hazmat gear and were only able to stay inside for short periods of time.

The discovery of the bodies at Back to Nature prompted state lawmakers to strengthen what are among the laxest funeral home regulations in the country. Unlike most states, Colorado did not require routine review of the credentials of funeral homes or business operators.

This year, lawmakers, largely with the support of the funeral home industry, brought Colorado’s regulations in line with most other states.

Bedayn is a syndicated member of the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.

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