Funeral home owner in Colorado, US, sentenced to 40 years for storing nearly 200 bodies

By Merve Berker

A funeral home owner in the US state of Colorado who stored 191 decomposing bodies for years and gave grieving families fake ashes was sentenced to 40 years in state prison, media reports said Friday.

Jon Hallford, co-owner of the Return to Nature Funeral Home, was condemned by families and the court for crimes committed between 2019 and 2023, when bodies were found stacked and left to decay inside a building in Penrose, south of Colorado Springs, according to CBS News.

Investigators said bodies were discovered throughout the building, some piled on top of one another, with swarms of insects and fluids from decomposition covering the floors. The remains -- including adults, infants and fetuses -- were kept at room temperature.

Judge Eric Bentley said Hallford caused “unspeakable and incomprehensible” harm, adding that the case tested the belief that people are “basically good at the core.”

Family members told the court they suffered recurring nightmares after learning their loved ones’ remains had been left to rot. Many urged the judge to impose the maximum possible sentence of 50 years, calling Hallford a “monster.”

“I’m a daughter whose mother was treated like yesterday’s trash,” said Kelly Mackeen, whose mother’s remains were among those mishandled.

Hallford apologized in court, saying his actions would “echo for a generation,” and admitted he failed to stop despite having many chances to do so.

Prosecutors said the crimes were driven by greed. While charging families more than $1,200 each, Jon and Carie Hallford spent lavishly on luxury vehicles worth more than $120,000, $31,000 in cryptocurrency, high-end goods and cosmetic procedures.

“Clearly, this is a crime motivated by greed,” prosecutor Shelby Crow said, noting the money spent could have paid for proper cremation many times over.

Jon Hallford and his former wife, Carie Hallford, pleaded guilty in December to nearly 200 counts of corpse abuse. Carie Hallford is due to be sentenced on April 24 and faces 25 to 35 years in prison.

Jon Hallford has also received a separate 20-year federal sentence for fraud related to nearly $900,000 in pandemic-era aid, to be served concurrently.

The case prompted Colorado lawmakers to tighten funeral home regulations in 2024, introducing routine inspections and stronger enforcement powers.