Judge: Two separate trials for Penrose funeral home owners
During a hearing Thursday, El Paso County District Court Judge William Moller ruled that two separate trials will be held for the couple accused of piling 189 bodies in their former Return to Nature funeral home facility in Penrose. Prosecutors with t…
During a hearing Thursday, El Paso County District Court Judge William Moller ruled that two separate trials will be held for the couple accused of piling 189 bodies in their former Return to Nature funeral home facility in Penrose.
Prosecutors with the 4th Judicial District had filed a motion to have one trial for Carie Halford, 46, and her husband, Jon Hallford, 43, to which Jon Hallford's attorney objected.
Signs, posters and photos hang on the fence outside the former Return to Nature funeral home in February in Penrose. (Tim Jordan - Special to the Daily Record)
Based on a theory of defense filed under seal by Carie Hallford's attorney, Moller found that her defense is potentially antagonistic to her husband's defense.
The former funeral home owners are accused of accepting payment from families of decedents for cremations, stacking the 189 bodies in the Penrose facility, and giving families falsified death certificates and bags of concrete powder in place of their loved ones' ashes.
They are facing numerous felony charges, including abuse of a corpse, theft, money laundering and forgery.
In early October, Fremont County Sheriff's deputies responded to reports of a foul odor coming from the Return to Nature Funeral Home, where they discovered the bodies in various stages of decomposition.
All decedents were removed from the facility as of Oct. 13 and transported to the El Paso County Coroner's Office for identification.
The couple was arrested Nov. 8 in Oklahoma after prosecutors say they fled to avoid prosecution.
Michael Allen, the District Attorney for the 4th Judicial District, and his office are prosecuting the case because Return To Nature Funeral Home was centered in Colorado Springs.
On Thursday, Carie Hallford's attorney entered a not-guilty plea on her behalf and requested a trial on all counts. He later withdrew the plea after he compared upcoming scheduling issues with the prosecution and the Hallfords' federal trial in mid-October.
After being released on bond, the Hallfords were arrested in April on 15 new federal charges of wire fraud and aiding and abetting, including fraudulently obtaining more than $880,000 COVID relief funds.
The Hallfords will appear for a hearing July 11 in El Paso County for the state charges at which time trials may be set on Judge Eric Bentley's docket, who will be taking over this case.
Jon Hallford did not enter a plea Thursday.
In April, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and its contractors demolished and disposed of the Return to Nature's building materials. After an assessment, the EPA determined that demolition of the building is necessary to safely remove biological and hazardous materials found in the building.
"We are very pleased with the partnership with the EPA and many of our other local, state and federal agencies who were part of this process," said Kevin Grantham, the Fremont County Department of Public Health and Environment chair, following the demolition. "We are very pleased with how things came together and were able to work with them and get this done finally, hopefully, as a step in the process for the grief the families are going through."
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