Colorado Funeral Home Owner Gets 20 Years for Stashing 190 Bodies, Sending Fake Ashes

In a chilling betrayal of trust, Jon Hallford, owner of Return to Nature Funeral Home in Colorado, has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for stashing nearly 190 decaying bodies in a bug-infested building while sending grieving families fake ashes. This is no ordinary fraud case, as Federal Judge Nina Wang emphasized, citing the emotional devastation inflicted on families who believed their loved ones had been respectfully cremated.

Hallford, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and 191 counts of corpse abuse, also defrauded the government of nearly $900,000 in COVID-19 aid. Alongside his wife, Carie, he splurged on luxury cars, Gucci, Tiffany & Co. items, and even laser body sculpting, all while bodies piled up in Penrose, Colorado, some stacked so high investigators needed boards to navigate the decay-soaked floors.

Victims’ stories tore at the heart during sentencing. Colton Sperry, who lost his grandmother—his 'second mother'—in 2019, spoke of spiraling into depression upon learning her body languished for four years in the funeral home’s squalor. “I miss my grandma so much,” he told the court, his grief echoing the pain of others who learned their loved ones’ ashes were fake or, worse, that the wrong body was buried.

Hallford’s apology rang hollow for many. He claimed he opened the funeral home to make a positive impact, but “everything got completely out of control,” he admitted. Meanwhile, families like Derrick Johnson’s were left haunted, wondering if their loved ones were “stacked like lumber” in a “festering sea of death” while the Hallfords dined lavishly, possibly on funds meant for cremations.

Carie Hallford faces trial in September, charged with similar counts of corpse abuse and fraud. The case exposes a grim underbelly of neglect, where greed overpowered decency, leaving families to grapple with unimaginable loss.