Return to Nature Funeral home owners plead guilty to corpse abuse

The Return to Nature Funeral Home co-owners appeared in El Paso County Court on Friday and pleaded guilty to corpse abuse charges. Jon and Carie Hallford began storing bodies in a building without electricity in Penrose, about 34 miles southwest of Colorado Springs, as far back as 2019 and gave families dry concrete in place of cremated remains, according to prosecutors. 
Jon and Carie Hallford have been charged with more than 200 charges of state charges in Colorado including abuse of a corpse, forgery and money laundering.  
The investigation into the funeral home began in early October 2023 when neighbors reported a foul odor to the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office. Investigators discovered 190 improperly stored bodies inside the building which was demolished earlier this year. 
The couple was arrested in Oklahoma in November 2023 after what prosecutors said was an attempt to flee authorities.  
During the plea hearing, prosecutors discussed the gruesome conditions discovered inside the funeral home in Penrose, “The bodies were contained in disposable body bags, wrapped in sheets and duct tape, partially wrapped in sheets, wrapped in plastic garbage bags and duct tape, or exposed with no covering at all. Some were even stuffed into plastic totes.”
She continued in court, “The bodies were lying on the ground. stacked on shelves, left on gurneys, stacked on top of each other, or just piled in rooms.”
Six victims out of more than 200 asked to specifically address the court on Friday. The judge determined they could speak at the sentencing hearing. 
Sentencing for the Hallfords for state charges is set for April 18, 2025.
Last month, the couple pleaded guilty to federal charges of defrauding customers. Jon and Carie Hallford faced charges in an indictment from the federal government for allegedly misspending nearly $900,000 in COVID-19 pandemic relief funds. 
As part of the plea agreement in federal court, Jon and Carie Hallford each pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. That agreement stipulates that prosecutors will not request more than 15 years imprisonment. 
The Hallfords have each been charged with 10 counts of wire fraud over their alleged failure to bury or cremate bodies of people, even though they received money for those services. The Hallfords have also been accused of making false statements to the U.S. Small Business Administration in their efforts to qualify for three separate loans totaling $882,300. 
The couple used the money from the government and customers’ payments to buy a GMC Yukon and Infiniti that together were worth over $120,000, laser body sculpting, trips to California, Florida and Las Vegas, $31,000 in cryptocurrency and luxury items at stores like Gucci and Tiffany & Co., according to court documents.
The Hallfords are scheduled to be sentenced for the federal charges in March 2025.