In a significant development, the sentencing for Jon Hallford, co-owner of the Return to Nature Funeral Home, has been delayed. The judge rejected the proposed plea agreement calling for a concurrent 20-year sentence, citing the emotional impact of victim impact statements and the feeling that the agreement did not reflect the severity of the crimes. This rejection allows Hallford the opportunity to withdraw from the plea deal, which would result in a trial. The case involved the discovery of nearly 200 bodies in various states of decomposition and also involves federal charges related to the misuse of pandemic relief funds.
Read More
In a Colorado court, Jon Hallford, the owner of the Return to Nature Funeral Home, is set to be sentenced for abusing the corpses of 191 individuals. Hallford and his wife ran a fraudulent operation for four years, promising cremations but instead storing bodies in a decaying building. The plea agreement recommends a 20-year prison sentence, but some families are contesting this, seeking a harsher punishment. The case has caused immense anguish for the families, who unknowingly spread concrete and had to come to grips with the fact that their loved ones were not properly cared for.
Read More
Jon Hallford, the owner of the Return to Nature Funeral Home, has been sentenced to the maximum 20 years in prison for wire fraud, after stashing nearly 190 dead bodies in a dilapidated building and providing families with fake ashes. Hallford pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud in federal court and 191 counts of corpse abuse in state court, with his state sentencing scheduled for August. The judge stated the emotional damage to families and the scale of the crime warranted the long sentence, as Hallford defrauded families and the federal government of nearly $900,000 in COVID-19 aid. Hallford and his wife are accused of storing the bodies between 2019 and 2023, while families received fraudulent ashes and experienced immense emotional distress.
Read More
John Q. Hosedrinker