US EditionFormer Colorado funeral home owner sentenced to 30 years in case that forced industry crackdown
The case prompted new inspection and licensing rules after prosecutors said the Hallfords charged more than $1,200 per customer and gave families fake ashes.
- On Friday, a judge sentenced former Return to Nature owner Carie Hallford to 30 years in prison for concealing nearly 200 decomposing bodies alongside her ex-husband, Jon Hallford, in a case that exposed severe industry oversight failures in Colorado.
- Following complaints of a foul odor in 2023, officials entered the Penrose facility to find bodies piled throughout the bug-infested building where Hallford performed much of the physical work alongside her ex-husband.
- Families like that of Tanya Wilson paid more than $1,200 per customer for cremation services, only to receive fake ashes while their loved ones' remains lay in toxic fluids at the makeshift mortuary.
- The case spurred Colorado lawmakers to enact legislation mandating routine inspections and adopting a funeral director licensing system, reforms addressing the state's historically lax industry oversight.
- Similar scandals in Denver, Montrose, and Pueblo County involving body part sales and illegal storage reveal a systemic pattern of fraud that prompted the industry crackdown across Colorado.
21 Articles
21 Articles
The former owner of a funeral home in the US state of Colorado who, together with her husband, hid 189 decomposing bodies, has been sentenced to 30 years in prison. The now-separated couple ran the ecological funeral home Return to Nature in the Colorado Springs area. Relatives were promised a "green funeral," in which bodies would not be embalmed with chemicals and a biodegradable coffin would be used. Instead of cremating the bodies, they were…
Ex-owner of Colorado funeral home where decomposing bodies were found is sentenced to 30 years
A former Colorado funeral home owner who helped her ex-husband hide nearly 200 decomposing bodies was sentenced to 30 years in prison Friday in a case that forced the state to clamp down on an industry plagued by repeated scandal and notoriously lax oversight.
Ex-Funeral Home Owner Gets Another 30 Years
A former Colorado funeral home owner who helped her ex-husband hide nearly 200 decomposing bodies was sentenced to 30 years in prison on Friday in a case that forced the state to clamp down on an industry plagued by scandal and lax oversight. Carie Hallford faced between 25 to 35...
Hid almost 200 bodies – sentenced to 30 years for aiding and abetting
Funeral home owner gets 30 years in prison for hiding nearly 200 decomposing bodies
A former Colorado funeral home owner who helped her ex-husband hide nearly 200 decomposing bodies was sentenced to 30 years in prison Friday in a case that forced the state to clamp down on an industry plagued by repeated scandal and notoriously lax oversight.
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