Colorado funeral home owner learns fate after abuse of nearly 200 bodies, service fees
A Colorado funeral home owner who left nearly 200 bodies to rot and defrauded grieving families of fake ashes while paying for the funeral service by buying supplies was sentenced Friday to 40 years in prison.
Jon Hallford, one half of the Colorado couple at the center of the sordid scheme, has been sentenced to 40 years in prison – just ten years shy of the maximum sentence his victims begged a judge to hand down.
Jon’s ex-wife, Carrie Hallford, was also involved in the conspiracy. His sentence is pending.
Family members packed the courtroom to hear Jon’s fate Friday afternoon.
When given the opportunity to speak at Jon’s sentencing, many detailed how the Hallfords’ deception still haunts them with recurring nightmares that evoke visions of rotting flesh, snarling maggots, and the painful acceptance that their loved ones have been left to rot, as KOMO News reported.
Judge Eric Bentley concluded that Jon had caused “unspeakable and unfathomable” harm to his clients and their loved ones.
Jon begrudgingly apologized, admitting that he had “plenty of opportunities to stop the whole thing” and chose not to. However, his words seem to fall on deaf ears as his victims look down on him.
Carrie and Jon used the funeral home Return to Nature where, between 2019 and 2023, they disposed of bodies in a 2,500 square meter building away from their business.
Bodies slowly but surely piled up inside the room temperature building. Insects swarmed the space and picked at the rotting corpses while maggots bred in the filth.
People in all stages of life, including infants, were thrown inside the building.
Authorities came across a “horrific” situation when they responded to reports of a foul smell pervading the area.
It took months to identify the bodies and notify their surviving family members, who were given dry plaster instead of cremated ashes.
Jon spent the money earmarked for funeral services on luxury cars, cryptocurrency, designer clothes, and, most shockingly, laser body sculpting treatments – all while neglecting to pay their bills.
He charged families for burials and cremations at his funeral home, costing up to $1,895.
Jon and Carrie both pleaded guilty to 189 counts of aggravated assault in December. Carrie will be sentenced on April 24, and faces up to 35 years in prison.
Prosecutors previously pleaded guilty to federal fraud charges for spending $900,000 in small business aid during the pandemic from the state. Jon was sentenced to 20 years in prison in that case, while Carrie’s sentence is pending.
Via Post wires
