190 bodies in the house

Morticians filled urns with concrete instead of ashes

(Bild: Cuoregentile - stock.adobe.com)

A mortician couple in the US state of Colorado literally had so many corpses in their cellar that at some point it stank to high heaven. Instead of cremating the deceased, they stored them at room temperature. The bereaved were given urns containing dry concrete instead of ashes.

In early October 2023, police found the remains of 190 decomposing people at the "Return to Nature Funeral Home" funeral home in the small town of Penrose near Colorado Springs after reports of a stench on the premises.

A month later, the district attorney's office in Colorado Springs announced that the two owners of the funeral home, Carie and Jon Hallford, were suspected of having committed several crimes - including theft, forgery and mishandling of corpses. The duo have been arrested and are in custody.

Jon (left) and Carie Hallford were arrested after the bodies were found and taken to prison.(Bild: Wagoner County Sheriff)

Bodies had been stored at room temperature
According to authorities, the bodies had been improperly stored - at room temperature. The sheriff in charge described the discovery as "gruesome" and "disturbing". The bodies were removed and identified one by one to notify relatives.

"The bodies were on the floor, stacked on shelves, placed on stretchers, piled on top of each other or simply stacked in rooms." This is how the public prosecutor described the picture presented to the investigators.

Dry concrete filled into urns instead of ashes
The Hallfords treated themselves to vacations, luxury cars and expensive cosmetic treatments from their clients' money and misused coronavirus aid (around 900,000 US dollars). They saved the costs of cremating the dead. They still handed out urns to the relatives of the dead - but they did not contain ashes, but dry concrete.

Couple plead guilty to desecration of corpses
In court, the couple now pleaded guilty to desecration of corpses: the Hallfords also agreed to pay an undisclosed amount of compensation. In return, the public prosecutor's office dropped further charges of theft, forgery and money laundering.

As part of the agreements reached, Jon Hallford is facing 20 years in prison, while his wife Carie is to spend 15 to 20 years behind bars. The verdict in this spectacular case is scheduled for April 18.