Colorado man who abused nearly 200 corpses gets 40 years, families call him a ‘monster’

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) — A judge sentenced a Colorado funeral home owner to 40 years in state prison Friday for leaving nearly 200 bodies rotting in a building for years and giving families fake ashes.

Family members told Judge Eric Bentley they have had recurring nightmares about decomposing flesh and maggots since learning what happened to their loved ones. They called defendant Jon Hallford a “monster” and “vile” and had urged the judge to give him the maximum sentence of 50 years.

Hallford apologized before his sentencing and said he would regret his actions for the rest of his life.

His former wife, Carie Hallford, who co-owned the Return to Nature Funeral Home, is due to be sentenced April 24. She faces 25 to 35 years in prison.

During the years they were stashing bodies, the Hallfords spent lavishly, according to court documents. That included purchasing a GMC Yukon and an Infiniti worth over $120,000 combined, along with $31,000 in cryptocurrency, luxury items from stores like Gucci and Tiffany & Co. and laser body sculpting.

The Hallfords also pleaded guilty to federal fraud charges after prosecutors said they cheated the government out of nearly $900,000 in pandemic-era small business aid. Jon Hallford was sentenced to 20 years in prison in that case, and Carie Hallford’s sentencing is pending.

“Clearly this is a crime motivated by greed,” prosecutor Shelby Crow said. The Hallfords charged more than $1,200 per customer, and the money the couple spent on luxury items would have covered the cost to cremate all of the bodies many times over, Crow said.