Colorado funeral home owners accused of hundreds of cases of corpse abuse set to plead guilty

Jesse Bedein
| Associated Press/Report for America

Denver — The owners of a Colorado funeral home are expected to plead guilty Friday and file state charges accusing them of leaving 190 bodies to decompose on their premises and providing fake ashes to grieving relatives.

According to the charges, Return to Nature funeral home owners John and Carey Holford began storing bodies in a dilapidated building near Colorado Springs back in 2019 and giving families dry concrete in lieu of cremated remains. A grim discovery last year has upended the grieving process for families.

Prosecutors say the Hallfords spent money lavishly over the years. They used clients’ money and nearly $900,000 in pandemic relief funds to buy laser body sculpting, fancy cars, trips to Las Vegas and Florida, $31,000 in cryptocurrency and other luxury items, according to court records.

Last month, the Hallfords pleaded guilty to federal fraud charges, signing an agreement in which they admitted defrauding clients and the federal government. They face more than 200 charges in state court of abuse of corpses, theft, forgery and money laundering.

John Hallford is represented by the public defender’s office, which does not comment on cases. Carey Holford’s attorney, Michael Stuzinski, declined to comment.

For four years, Return to Nature clients scattered what they believed to be the ashes of their loved ones in meaningful places, sometimes within an airplane’s flight distance. Others carried their urns on cross-country trips or kept them tightly at home.

The bodies, which prosecutors said were improperly stored, were discovered last year when neighbors reported a stench coming from the building in the small town of Penrose, southwest of Colorado Springs.

Authorities found bodies stacked on top of each other, some of which were infested with insects. Among them were remains too decomposed for visual identification. The building was so toxic that rescuers had to wear protective gear and only stay inside for a short time.

The discovery of the bodies in Return to Nature prompted state lawmakers to tighten what had been some of the loosest funeral home regulations in the country. Unlike most states, Colorado did not require regular inspections of funeral homes or credentials for business operators.

This year, lawmakers brought Colorado’s rules in line with those of most other states, largely with support from the funeral home industry.

Bedine is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.