A Colorado funeral home owner was sentenced Friday to 40 years in prison for storing 189 decomposing bodies for years while giving grieving families fake ashes, in one of the most disturbing cases of corpse abuse in U.S. history. Jon Hallford, who ran Return to Nature Funeral Home with his then-wife Carie Hallford, pleaded guilty in December to nearly 200 counts of corpse abuse. Families of victims urged Judge Eric Bentley to impose the maximum 50-year sentence, describing the emotional devastation they suffered. “I’m a daughter whose mother was treated like yesterday’s trash,” Kelly Mackeen t

A Colorado funeral home owner was sentenced Friday to 40 years in prison for storing 189 decomposing bodies for years while giving grieving families fake ashes, in one of the most disturbing cases of corpse abuse in U.S. history.

Jon Hallford, who ran Return to Nature Funeral Home with his then-wife Carie Hallford, pleaded guilty in December to nearly 200 counts of corpse abuse. Families of victims urged Judge Eric Bentley to impose the maximum 50-year sentence, describing the emotional devastation they suffered.

“I’m a daughter whose mother was treated like yesterday’s trash,” Kelly Mackeen told the court. “I’m heartbroken, and I ask God every day for grace.”

From 2019 to 2023, the Hallfords kept bodies in a building in Penrose, south of Colorado Springs. When authorities investigated complaints of a foul odor, they discovered corpses stacked together at room temperature, surrounded by insects and decomposition fluid. The remains included adults, infants, and fetuses.

Prosecutors said the couple deceived families by providing what investigators believe were bags of dry concrete instead of cremated remains. Many families had already scattered or kept the fake ashes before learning the truth.

While failing to cremate the bodies, the Hallfords spent thousands on luxury cars, designer goods, cryptocurrency, and cosmetic procedures. Prosecutor Shelby Crow called the case “a crime motivated by greed,” noting they charged families more than $1,200 each—far more than the cost of proper cremation.

Hallford also received a separate 20-year federal sentence for fraudulently obtaining nearly $900,000 in pandemic business relief funds.

Carie Hallford is scheduled to be sentenced on April 24 and is expected to receive between 25 and 35 years in prison.

A little more informed. A little more connected.