Judge accepts plea deals from Colorado funeral home owners who acknowledged abusing 191 corpses

Source: AP

By COLLEEN SLEVIN
Updated 7:09 PM CST, December 22, 2025

DENVER (AP) — A state judge on Monday accepted plea agreements for the owners of a Colorado funeral home for the abuse of 191 corpses, many of which languished in a room-temperature building for years, over the objections of relatives of the victims.

Authorities say Carie and Jon Hallford, who owned and operated Return to Nature Funeral Home in Colorado Springs, maintained a lavish lifestyle and gave fake ashes to some families of the dead over four years.

The latest plea agreements would have Jon Hallford sentenced to between 30 and 50 years and Carie Hallford to between 25 and 35 years. The sentences would be served at the same time as their prison terms for related federal charges. Victims’ family members wanted each of them sentenced to 191 years — which would include one year for each victim. Some also said the Hallfords shouldn’t be able to serve both the state and federal sentences at the same time.

Jon Hallford is scheduled to be sentenced on Feb. 6, 2026. Carie Hallford is set to be sentenced April 24.



Read more: https://apnews.com/article/colorado-funeral-home-corpse-plea-hearing-fa9cc48a5fa1863180a30baa39e844b4