A Colorado Funeral Home Owner Sentenced to 40 Years for Abusing Nearly 200 Bodies
Jon Hallford, co-owner of the Return to Nature Funeral Home, has been sentenced to 40 years in state prison for abusing nearly 200 bodies over a four-year period. The victims included adults, infants, and fetuses whose remains were stored at room temperature in a building on the funeral home's property.
Hallford and his former wife, Carie, pleaded guilty to nearly 200 counts of corpse abuse as part of an agreement with prosecutors. The couple had been storing bodies in a building in the small town of Penrose, south of Colorado Springs, since 2019, when investigators first responded to reports of a stench from the building.
The remains were found stacked on top of each other, with swarms of bugs and decomposition fluid covering the floors. Investigators used fingerprints, DNA, and other methods to identify the bodies over months. However, what families received as "ashes" in urns were not actually the remains of their loved ones, but rather dry concrete that resembled ashes.
The couple had spent lavishly on luxury items during this time, including purchasing a GMC Yukon SUV and an Infiniti luxury car worth over $120,000 combined, as well as expensive goods from stores such as Gucci and Tiffany. The Hallfords also charged more than $1,200 per customer for funeral services, which would have covered the cost to cremate all of the bodies many times over.
The couple's crimes were motivated by greed, with prosecutors arguing that they had cheated the government out of nearly $900,000 in pandemic-era small business aid. Jon Hallford was previously sentenced to 20 years in prison for this federal charge, and Carie Hallford's sentencing is pending.
During the sentencing hearing, family members described their grief and trauma after learning what happened to their loved ones. One family member, Kelly Mackeen, said that her mother's remains were treated like "yesterday's trash" and dumped in a site left to rot with hundreds of others. She asked for God to give her grace as she struggled to come to terms with the loss.
Hallford apologized for his actions, saying he would regret them for the rest of his life. However, some family members felt that the 40-year sentence was not enough, and urged Judge Eric Bentley to give him the maximum sentence of 50 years.
The Hallfords' crimes have led to changes in Colorado's funeral home regulations, with lawmakers passing a bill in May 2024 that gave regulators greater enforcement power over funeral homes and require routine inspections of facilities.
Jon Hallford, co-owner of the Return to Nature Funeral Home, has been sentenced to 40 years in state prison for abusing nearly 200 bodies over a four-year period. The victims included adults, infants, and fetuses whose remains were stored at room temperature in a building on the funeral home's property.
Hallford and his former wife, Carie, pleaded guilty to nearly 200 counts of corpse abuse as part of an agreement with prosecutors. The couple had been storing bodies in a building in the small town of Penrose, south of Colorado Springs, since 2019, when investigators first responded to reports of a stench from the building.
The remains were found stacked on top of each other, with swarms of bugs and decomposition fluid covering the floors. Investigators used fingerprints, DNA, and other methods to identify the bodies over months. However, what families received as "ashes" in urns were not actually the remains of their loved ones, but rather dry concrete that resembled ashes.
The couple had spent lavishly on luxury items during this time, including purchasing a GMC Yukon SUV and an Infiniti luxury car worth over $120,000 combined, as well as expensive goods from stores such as Gucci and Tiffany. The Hallfords also charged more than $1,200 per customer for funeral services, which would have covered the cost to cremate all of the bodies many times over.
The couple's crimes were motivated by greed, with prosecutors arguing that they had cheated the government out of nearly $900,000 in pandemic-era small business aid. Jon Hallford was previously sentenced to 20 years in prison for this federal charge, and Carie Hallford's sentencing is pending.
During the sentencing hearing, family members described their grief and trauma after learning what happened to their loved ones. One family member, Kelly Mackeen, said that her mother's remains were treated like "yesterday's trash" and dumped in a site left to rot with hundreds of others. She asked for God to give her grace as she struggled to come to terms with the loss.
Hallford apologized for his actions, saying he would regret them for the rest of his life. However, some family members felt that the 40-year sentence was not enough, and urged Judge Eric Bentley to give him the maximum sentence of 50 years.
The Hallfords' crimes have led to changes in Colorado's funeral home regulations, with lawmakers passing a bill in May 2024 that gave regulators greater enforcement power over funeral homes and require routine inspections of facilities.
... like, how could someone be so heartless? Leaving those poor bodies stacked on top of each other like they were nothing more than trash piles... it's just gross 
. And to think they spent all that money on luxury cars and fancy goods while people were rotting away in storage 
. I mean, I know they got what was coming to them, but 40 years might've been a bit too lenient for some of the families who lost loved ones in such a heinous way... I feel bad for Kelly Mackeen and her family, man 
. It's just another reminder that we gotta be more vigilant about those in charge, you know? And kudos to Colorado for passing that new bill 
, hopefully it'll help prevent something like this from happening again 
.
This is just shocking, man... 40 years seems like not enough for someone who basically treated almost 200 human beings as nothing more than disposable objects. I mean, can you even imagine if this happened to your own family? It's just mind-blowing that people can be so heartless and greedy.
I dont know if 40 yrs is enough tho, some family members were saying they wanted max sentence of 50 yrs. it's like the system failed them 
but at least now theres gonna be more checks on funeral homes and stuff so hopefully thats a positive change 
this is just so messed up 
the fact that they spent thousands on luxury items while treating those remains like trash is just disgusting 
and to think they took advantage of pandemic aid too 
the sentence might seem harsh but i guess 40 years can give some people time to reflect on their actions...i hope it brings some closure to the families affected 
.
this is so sickening 
Jon Hallford deserves way more than 40 yrs for what he did to those innocent ppl his greed & lack of human decency are just horrific 
this is just horrific I mean I know people can be messed up but this takes the cake Jon Hallford and his wife are literally despicable they got rich off the suffering of so many families and treated those bodies like trash idk how someone could do that to innocent ppl 
. Anyway, let's hope the changes in regulations will help prevent something like this from happening again 
. The guy just used them for his own gain, like a commodity or something... and the worst part is that he was storing all these bodies in one place with bugs and decomposition fluid everywhere 
. It's disgusting how he treated those bodies like trash and cheated on government aid for millions 
it's like they had no shame at all.
u can't buy class or decency, but u can definitely get caught up in greed and neglect
. Anyway, I guess you could say Jon Hallford "died" on the job – in prison 
.
for abusing nearly 200 bodies 
, and this guy just added to the number 
. I mean, $900k in pandemic-era small business aid gone down the drain 
here's a quick graph of the situation: 
. It's crazy that this happened at a return-to-nature funeral home too... I guess nature didn't take care of them like it was supposed to