COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KOAA) — Jon Hallford, the man accused of improperly storing nearly 200 human bodies at a funeral home in Penrose in 2023, has changed his plea to not guilty.
Hallford pleaded guilty, but a judge rejected his plea deal last month, which included a sentence of 20 years served concurrently with his federal sentence on fraud charges. He will now go to trial. Hallford was offered an alternative plea deal that he rejected on Friday.
He's facing the following charges:
- 191 counts of abuse of a corpse
- 85 counts of forgery
- 4 counts of money laundering
- 31 counts of theft
Hallford appeared motionless as attorneys discussed how to move the case forward. He appeared in an orange jumpsuit as he is currently being held in the El Paso County Jail.
Families whose loved ones were among the bodies found inside the funeral home have continued to show up in court.
"I haven’t missed one yet, and I think today was just as important as any other," Crystina Page, whose son David Jaxon Page died in 2019, "I am thrilled," she said about hte case now going to trial, "I believe that trial is the only opportunity that we're going to have to truly get answers."
Samantha Naranjo, who lost her grandmother Dorothy Tardif in 2022, felt differently about the change of plea.
"I’m torn," she said, "I absolutely want justice. I certainly want them. I want him to serve prison time in state, Colorado. I do realize that, you know, when it comes to trials, there's so many things that could happen that can change everything."
Naranjo is also worried with all the attention the case has gotten, it will be difficult to get a fair trial. Page doesn't see that happening.
The trial is set for February 9, 2026. Prosecutors say they expect it to take 2-3 months. The judge asked to try to get the trial length closer to one month. Prosecutors argued that they will need to argue multiple charges beyond a reasonable doubt. Unlike Hallford's plea deal, which only applied to abuse of a corpse charges, he will now go to trial for additional charges, including money laundering, forgery, and theft.
KOAA News5 has been following this case from day one. Check out a timeline of events below:
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