Colorado funeral home owners accused of stashing decaying bodies agree to plea deal ... again

Jon and Carrie Hallford, the couple who operated the Return to Nature Funeral Home in Colorado Springs which left nearly 190 bodies in a building in Penrose, have agreed again to a plea deal to state charges. Wagoner County (Oklahoma) Sheriff/KCNC via CNN Newsource

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Jon and Carrie Hallford, the couple who operated the Return to Nature Funeral Home in Colorado Springs which left nearly 190 bodies in a building in Penrose, have agreed again to a plea deal to state charges.

That’s after a judge made the rare move earlier this year, to reject previous plea agreements to state charges made by the 4th Judicial District Attorney in Colorado Springs.

The pair was in a courtroom in Colorado Springs Tuesday. They had already pleaded guilty to charges of abuse of a corpse, money laundering and forgery earlier this year.

But Judge Eric Bentley rejected those plea deals. In Jon Hallford’s case he was to do 20 years.

“The sentence negotiated by the parties does not adequately account for the harms that these crimes have caused,” said Bentley.

Bentley later rejected to Carie’s Hallford’s plea and sentence of 15-20 years for similar reasons, saying it was too lenient.

Both have also been convicted of federal charges of wire fraud. Jon Hallford is serving a sentence of 20 years for that. Carie Hallford is yet to be sentenced.

The new state plea deal is for 30-50 years for Jon Hallford and 25-35 years for Carie Hallford.

But some families have called for close to 200 years, one year each for each of the bodies.

Word of the new plea deal surprised some. And some families are already expressing disappointment.

“Disheartened, discouraged and upset,” related Tanya Wilson Tuesday night. “The only thing this changes are the numbers.”

She worried the sentence would be concurrent with the federal sentence and by the time the Hallfords emerged from federal prison, there would be no state time left, given the state’s sentence reductions. Wilson hoped for a trial, noting the strong evidence against the couple. She said she planned to address the judge in the case again when sentencing was scheduled for Monday, to object to the new plea arrangement.