Colorado judge rejects guilty plea agreement for co-owner of funeral home where nearly 200 bodies discovered

The sentencing for Jon Hallford, the co-owner of Return to Nature Funeral Home where the bodies of nearly 200 people were discovered in various states of decomposition in October 2023, has been delayed because the judge rejected the plea agreement. 

"I decided that I cannot accept the plea agreement in this case," said El Paso County Judge Eric Bentley in court on Friday afternoon. 

The plea agreement called for a 20-year prison sentence that would run concurrently with his 20-year federal sentence.  

The judge announced his rejection after dozens of people read victim impact statements during the sentencing hearing that began on Friday morning, many of them urging the judge to reject the agreement, which they felt did not do justice for the crimes committed.

"I was stunned by the articulate nature and the heartbreaking nature of what I heard this morning. It's hard to find words to describe the conduct of the defendant who violated every norm of a civilized society and victimized grieving people at their moment of greatest vulnerability," said Bentley. "I also heard a lot of rage. Most of that rage was directed at the defendant."

The judge also said that many victims felt they had not been heard and that the justice that had been worked out between the attorneys was not accurately reflected in the truth of the victims' experience. He also said that he believes "no sentence would ever be enough" for the victims and there would always be some kind of disconnect between what the victims believe is fair compared to the outcome of the justice system.

Jon Hallford co-owned the funeral home with his wife, Carie Hallford. Both have pleaded guilty to state charges in the case, including abuse of a corpse, forgery and money laundering. 

"Rejecting a plea agreement is an extreme action by the court. It is reserved for the most extreme cases. And if I do reject a plea agreement as I think I mentioned earlier, the defendant has the choice to back out of the plea, in which case the case will be reset for trial," said Bentley. 

Shiela and Gary Canfield Jones, whose daughter died in 2019, talked about their pain with losing their daughter, magnified by what happened to her after her death. 

"We all decided to use a funeral home that we thought was going to plant a tree for her, that we thought they were going to be compassionate and caring when we were dealing with what we were going through. Unfortunately, a con man and his wife conned us into thinking that everything was going to be okay and that they were going to be compassionate," said the couple in court on Friday morning. "It didn't happen - I worked hard as soon as I heard that my daughter had been one of the first in a room for four years decaying - I immediately called my friends at the legislature and said, 'What's the deal - how did this happen?'"

The investigation into the funeral home began in early October 2023, when neighbors reported a foul odor to the Fremont County Sheriff's Office. Investigators discovered at least 190 improperly stored bodies inside the building, which was demolished last year. 

The couple was arrested in Oklahoma in November 2023 after prosecutors claimed they were trying to flee from arrest. 

Jon and Carie Hallford also faced charges in an indictment from the federal government for allegedly misusing nearly $900,000 in COVID-19 pandemic relief funds. They each pleaded guilty to defrauding customers in October 2024, but Carie Hallford changed her plea earlier this year and then changed it again.  

Jon Hallford was sentenced to 20 years in prison in June after pleading guilty to federal charges. Some families have expressed frustration, even before the victim impact statements at Friday's sentencing hearing, that his federal sentence will be served concurrently with El Paso County's sentence.   

Earlier this month, Carie Hallford agreed to plead guilty in federal court to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. In exchange, she will receive a 15-year maximum sentence.

The next court date for Jon Hallford has been scheduled for Sept. 12.