The owners of Return to Nature Funeral Home, Carie and Jon Hallford, have had new guilty pleas accepted after 191 corpses were found stored and decaying in a Penrose facility. Under the accepted plea agreements, Jon faces 30–50 years and Carie 25–35 years; victims’ families are demanding 191-year sentences. The couple also admitted to nearly $900,000 in SBA fraud and taking payments for cremations that never occurred. The scandal prompted reforms and routine inspections across Colorado’s funeral industry.
Colorado Funeral Home Owners Plead Guilty After 191 Corpses Found; Families Demand Harsher Sentences
FILE - A hearse and debris can be seen at the rear of the Return to Nature Funeral Home, October 5, 2023, in Penrose, Colorado. - Jerilee Bennett/The Gazette/AP/File
A judge has accepted new guilty pleas from Carie and Jon Hallford, the owners of Return to Nature Funeral Home in Colorado Springs, after investigators discovered 191 corpses improperly stored and, in many cases, left to decay in a room-temperature building in Penrose.
What Happened
Authorities say the Hallfords ran the funeral operation between 2019 and 2023 and that some families were given fake ashes while remains were allegedly dumped or mishandled. In 2023, investigators discovered bodies stacked on top of one another in a bug-infested facility; some remains appeared to have been there for as long as four years.
Plea Deals, Sentencing And Victims' Response
Both Hallfords pleaded guilty last year to 191 counts of corpse abuse. Under the plea agreements accepted by the court, prosecutors have recommended a sentence of 30–50 years for Jon Hallford and 25–35 years for Carie Hallford. Jon Hallford’s sentencing is scheduled for Feb. 6, 2026, and Carie Hallford’s is set for April 24, 2026.
“This case is not about convenience or efficiency. It is about human beings who were treated as disposable,”
said Crystina Page, whose son’s body was among those found. Many family members oppose the plea deals and are calling for each defendant to receive 191 years—one year for every person whose remains were abused.
This combination of booking photos shows Jon Hallford, left, and Carie Hallford, the owners of Return to Nature Funeral Home. - Muskogee County Sheriff's Office/AP
Judicial Review And Earlier Pleas
Earlier this year, State District Judge Eric Bentley rejected previous plea agreements that would have carried up to 20-year sentences, citing the need for deterrence and the severity of the abuses. After the rejections, both Hallfords withdrew earlier guilty pleas before submitting the revised agreements now accepted by the court.
Related Crimes And Broader Impact
In federal court, the Hallfords also admitted to defrauding the U.S. Small Business Administration of nearly $900,000 in pandemic-era relief and to taking payments from customers for cremations that were never performed.
The case exposed longstanding gaps in Colorado’s funeral-industry oversight. Officials say the scandal helped prompt reforms, including the introduction of routine inspections across the state. In a related incident last August, investigators found 24 decomposing corpses behind a hidden door in a funeral home affiliated with a Pueblo county coroner; that investigation remains ongoing as authorities work to identify remains that may have been there for more than a decade.
Ongoing Investigations And Next Steps
Prosecutors, investigators and family members continue to seek accountability and to push for criminal sentences that reflect the scale of the abuse. Additional civil and criminal inquiries may continue as authorities identify victims and evaluate the full scope of alleged misconduct.
