EL PASO COUNTY, Colo. — A judge in El Paso County has accepted a plea agreement in the criminal case of two owners of the Return To Nature Funeral Home, where nearly 200 human bodies were found improperly stored in 2023.
For the past two years, Denver7 has been committed to covering this story and the updates that have followed. In October 2023, neighbors in Penrose reported a foul odor near the funeral home where investigators made a "horrific discovery." Fremont County officials removed 189 human bodies.
The Jon and Carie Hallford were arrested in Oklahoma and face more than 250 felony charges, including 190 counts of abuse of a corpse and 50 counts of forgery. The funeral home was demolished on Jan. 17, 2024 where investigators determined "demolition of the building is necessary to safely remove biological and hazardous materials found in the building."
The Hallfords entered plea agreements in their state criminal cases on Dec. 16, where Jon Hallford would receive a prison sentence between 30 and 50 years, and Carie Hallford would receive between 25 and 35 years.
The judge accepted that deal Monday afternoon.
Previously, in August, Judge Eric Bentley rejected a plea agreement for Jon Hallford, where he would have been sentenced to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to 191 counts of abuse of a corpse. During his nine years as a judge, Bentley said he has never granted a request to reject a plea, saying it was "reserved for the most extreme cases." However, after listening to more than a dozen victims, he decided he "could not accept" the agreement and called for harsher punishment.
The same outcome unfolded for Carie Hallford in November, where the victim's family members argued that a 15- to 20-year sentence was too lenient. Bentley had addressed the courtroom, explaining that the impact goes beyond the 191 victims, as "1,000 or so who will never know what became of their loved one's bodies."
Before Monday's hearing, a crowd formed outside the El Paso County Courthouse as family members of the victims gathered to reject the plea agreement and call for justice. Many at the peaceful protest wanted the case to go to trial or have the judge impose a sentence of 191 years, which would be one year for each victim.
Emma Williams was in attendance. She used Return to Nature when her father, an arborist, passed away in May 2022. When she learned that Return to Nature could honor him by planting a tree, it caught her interest.
"Return to Nature processed his body and promised us that he would be honored with a tree in his memory," she said.
In 2023, she learned that had not happened and instead, his remains were improperly stored at the funeral home.
"It's just unfathomable," she said. "... You're in this state of complete mourning, complete grief — you are so able to be taken advantage of. And for these people to do that was just something that none of us ever thought would happen."
Crystina Page, whose deceased son David Jackson Page was brought to Return to Nature, said Monday was the last opportunity for victims to ask the judge to reject the plea deal. Otherwise, the case would go to jury trial.
"We are wanting to push for trial because there are a lot of questions that will not be answered unless we go to trial," Page said.
She echoed what many victims' loved ones said in court Monday — that the Hallfords should serve one year for each of the bodies discovered. Besides the 191 years, several family members also pushed for the Hallfords to serve an additional two years, eight months, one week, and three days, which would represent one day for each unaccounted-for victim.
"This is an ongoing situation in Colorado and we have to set precedent. We have to let people know that this behavior will not be tolerated," Page said.
Monday afternoon's court hearing began with about 20 people, all loved ones of victims in this case, speaking about the impacts and their objection to the plea deal.
“It doesn't end, it never ends," one person said. "We’re going to suffer the rest of our lives knowing what happened.”
They all said that the plea agreement does not feel just or appropriate to them.
Many of them noted that they were strongly against Carie Hallford being given a lesser sentence than Jon Hallford, claiming that she played an equal role.
“I never, in all of my dealings with Return to Nature, spoke with or even saw Jon," one woman said. "Everything and every call, email, every dealing, was with Carie. Therefore, her sentencing should be equal and, in my heart of hearts, even more than what is being presented to us."
"Same crime, same time," another woman said.
Under the new plea agreement, Jon Hallford's sentence range increased to 30-50 years in prison, and Carie Hallford's increased to 25-35 years. At the end of Monday's hearing, both the prosecution and defense asked the judge to accept the plea deal.
“These are very meaningful changes from where I sit," Judge Bentley said on Monday afternoon after hearing from victims' loved ones.
He acknowledged that some people in the courtroom and beyond may disagree with his decision, but explained that the sentence ranges are "extraordinary" ones for defendants to agree to.
Bentley also told the victims' loved ones that they had not failed here and had succeeded, as the prior plea agreements for both Jon and Carrie had been rejected.
Both Jon and Carie Hallford have taken plea deals in their federal cases. Jon Hallford was charged with 15 federal offenses after misspending nearly $900,000 in COVID-19 pandemic relief funds. He is appealing this decision. Carie's federal sentencing was scheduled for Dec. 3, but was postponed to March 16, 2026 as a civil jury trial was happening at the same time.
