A funeral home owner in Colorado was accused of hoarding approx 190 decomposed bodies In an insect infested building it took plea deal last year Charged with body abuse, but on Monday, family members of the deceased will argue that the deal’s 15- to 20-year sentence is not enough.
Carrie Halford and her husband John Halfordowned by Return to Nature Funeral Home, is accused of stacking bodies at the building in the rural town between 2019 and 2023, and giving families fake ashes and other items. Defrauding the federal government outside Nearly $900,000.
The families, who believed they had fulfilled their loved ones’ wishes by cremation, learned that the remains of their sons, husbands or mothers were not in the urn or ashes they had scattered at the ceremony, but were instead suffering along with nearly 190 other bodies.
Officials said the scene inside the building in Penrose, Colorado, about a two-hour drive south of Denver, was horrific. Decomposition fluid covered the ground, insects gathered, and bodies piled on top of each other in various states of decomposition — some of which had been there for four years.
Last year, John and Carrie Halford both pleaded guilty to 191 counts of abuse of corpses, but State District Judge Eric Bentley John Halford’s plea deal was rejected In August after victims said the sentence was too lenient. Next, John Halford He withdrew his guilty pleaHe is scheduled to be tried.
Now, Carrie Halford’s plea deal will face objections from victims. It is unclear whether the judge will accept or reject the deal on Monday, or later.
The Hallfords also admitted in federal court to defrauding the U.S. Small Business Administration out of nearly $900,000 in pandemic-era aid and taking payments from customers for cremations that the funeral home never did. Officials said the two spent lavishly, buying a GMC Yukon, laser body sculpting, vacations, jewelry, and cryptocurrency.
After pleading guilty in federal court, John Halford was sentenced to 20 years in prison. Carrie Halford is scheduled to be sentenced in the federal case in December.