COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KOAA) — A judge decided Monday to accept plea deals from the owners of the defunct Return to Nature funeral home, where 189 improperly stored bodies were discovered in Penrose in 2023.
Jon and Carie Hallford are scheduled to appear in court at 1:30 p.m. The couple entered separate guilty pleas last week in their state criminal cases.
Jon Hallford faces 30 to 50 years in prison, while Carie Hallford faces 25 to 35 years. The Hallfords were arrested after investigators found the bodies at their Penrose facility in October 2023.
They face charges including abuse of a corpse, theft, money laundering, and forgery.
Some of the victims' families have shown mixed opinions as the state court case has played out. This will be the second time the state has brought a plea deal to a judge in the case of Jon and Carie.
In November, a judge rejected the deal for Carie Hallford, which would have carried a 15 - 20-year sentence.
In August, a similar deal was also rejected after a judge heard hours of victim testimony pleading for a trial.
"I don't know how the sentencing would play out for that, and I don't know if we'll get the true justice I was hoping for," said Samantha Naranjo, a woman whose grandmother was found inside the funeral home.
Chrystina Page, who lost her son and contracted Return to Nature Funeral Home services, said, "I am thrilled, I am really excited to be going through trial, I believe trial is the only opportunity we have to truly get answers in our case."
If the judge accepts the pleas, sentencing is scheduled for February and April. If not, a trial date will remain on the table for the two ex-owners.
Meanwhile, families of Return to Nature funeral home victims are planning to protest outside the courthouse this morning. At 11 a.m., the families will gather to oppose the plea agreements before today's 1:30 hearing in Colorado Springs.
Victims' families are urging the judge to reject the plea deals and allow the case to go to trial. Some families say the plea agreements minimize the scale of the harm inflicted.
KOAA News5 has a full timeline of the developing events of the Return to Nature Funeral Home.
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