Ex-funeral home owner who stashed corpses sentenced to 30 years in prison

A former funeral home owner who helped her ex-husband hide nearly 200 decomposing bodies in a building was sentenced to 30 years in prison Friday for her part in the corpse abuse scheme.

Carie Hallford, 48, faced between 25 and 35 years in prison under a plea agreement.

During a press conference following the sentencing, Kate Singh, chief communications officer for the 4th Judicial District Attorney’s Office, provided an update on the state criminal cases involving Hallford and her ex-husband, Jon Hallford.

“In February, Jon Hallford was sentenced to 40 years in the Department of Corrections on state charges. Today, the same El Paso County District Court judge sentenced Carie Hallford to 30 years in the Department of Corrections,” Singh said Friday.

“Those sentences mark the conclusion of the case that began in October of 2023 when reports of a foul odour led to the initial investigation at a facility in Penrose owned by the Hallfords.”

Singh said the investigation led to the discovery of “189 improperly stored human remains found in varying states of decomposition.”

The former couple co-owned the now-defunct Return to Nature Funeral Home in Colorado Springs, where they deceived grieving families by claiming to perform cremations. Instead, they hid the bodies in a bug-infested building and handed out dry concrete that resembled ashes.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Rachel Powell said Hallford’s sentencing “finally brings closure to a case that began more than two and a half years ago.”

“The Hallfords operated the Return to Nature Funeral Home, marketing so-called green burials, services intended to allow natural decomposition, as well as cremation and traditional burial services. They did not provide those services,” Powell said.

Powell said the Hallfords were both arrested in November 2023, each charged with a total of 286 criminal counts, including abuse of a corpse, money laundering, forgery and theft.

Hallford is prohibited from operating any funeral homes or mortuary services or any future involvement in those types of businesses following her release, according to Powell.

Powell said both Jon and Carie are “subject to pay close to $70,000 to try to make the victims whole monetarily.”

“We stand her recognizing that with the justice that has been served, no sentence can undo the harm that was caused,” Powell said. “And we have committed to our responsibility, which was to follow the evidence, consider the wishes of the families, and hold Jon and Carie Hallford accountable to the fullest extent of the law.”

Global News has reached out to the 4th Judicial District Attorney’s Office for further comment.

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In March, Carie Hallford was also sentenced to 18 years in prison for cheating customers and defrauding the federal government out of nearly US$900,000 in pandemic small business aid.

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“It takes an exceptionally sick person to even think of a fraud scheme like Jon and Carie Hallford’s, let alone carry it out. Their disregard for fundamental human dignity is almost beyond belief,” said United States Attorney for the District of Colorado Peter McNeilly.

“I hope the victims take some solace in the serious sentences handed down to both Hallfords. This case doesn’t right the wrongs the victims have suffered, but it does stand as an unequivocal condemnation of the Hallfords’ horrific criminal conduct,” McNeilly added.

Halford faced up to 20 years in prison for taking more than $130,000 from families for funeral services, including cremations, and often giving them urns full of concrete mix instead.

In August 2025, she pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and admitted that she and her ex-husband cheated customers and also defrauded the federal government out of nearly $900,000 in pandemic small business aid.

Carie Hallford decided to get a divorce after she was sent back to jail in her state case in November 2024, which put her out of reach of Jon Hallford’s alleged constant calls and texts and allowed the “fog in her mind from the years of abuse” to lift, according to a court filing by her lawyer, Robert Charles Melihercik.

Federal sentencing guidelines recommend prison time of up to eight years since Carie Hallford didn’t have a criminal history. But lawyers for the government were asking U.S. District Judge Nina Y. Wang to sentence her to 15 years, in part for taking advantage of grieving people following one of the largest discoveries of decaying bodies at a funeral home in the U.S.

In court documents, Melihercik said her actions were motivated by “fear and severe anxiety.” He said Hallford’s former husband used “classic instruments of domestic violence” to control her.

“Carie carried an enormous amount of guilt over her inability to stop the financial spiral, but also was too afraid of the consequences of confronting Jon about the problem,” according to the court docs.

Prosecutors wanted a longer sentence because the former couple lavishly spent a nearly $900,000 pandemic-era small business loan on vehicles, cryptocurrency, laser body sculpting and pricey items from stores like Gucci and Tiffany & Co. rather than on their Return to Nature funeral home.

An indictment alleged the couple used $882,300 in pandemic relief funds to buy items that also included dinners and tuition for their child. The fraud involved three loans obtained between March 2020 and October 2021, authorities said.

“Although she will be behind bars for the next decade or more, she finally feels free,” Melihercik wrote.

He also said a shorter sentence would allow her to return to work and repay the money the couple took from their victims.

“Ms. Hallford, having seen and heard the pain and anguish of her victims, understands the seriousness of her actions. She has lost her job, her children, and her freedom and her continued incarceration for a 97-month term will continue to provide just punishment and retribution for the victims,” the docs add.

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Jon and Carie Hallford each pleaded guilty in December 2025 to nearly 200 counts of corpse abuse in state court. The plea deals require their state and federal sentences to be served at the same time.

Jon Hallford has already headed to prison after pleading guilty to federal fraud charges, including abuse of a corpse, forgery and money laundering. At his sentencing last month in the state case, he apologized and said he would regret his actions for the rest of his life.

During the sentencing hearing, 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 Jon Hallford a “monster” and urged the judge to give him the maximum sentence of 50 years.

“I had so many chances to put a stop to everything and walk away, but I did not,” Jon Hallford said during sentencing. “My mistakes will echo for a generation. Everything I did was wrong.”

Colorado has struggled to effectively oversee funeral homes and, for many years, has had some of the weakest regulations.

Unlike nearly all other states, Colorado’s funeral homes weren’t routinely inspected. Many other states perform annual inspections that entail entering the premises and have educational requirements, such as a degree in mortuary science, a licensing exam or an apprenticeship.

A legislative session that took place after the 2023 discovery at Return to Nature Funeral Home resulted in new laws for Colorado, including House Bill 24-1335, which includes requirements for routine inspections of crematories and funeral homes.

— with files from The Associated Press