Stacked bodies and maggots discovered at neglected Colorado funeral home, FBI agent says

Investigators who entered a Colorado funeral house the place practically 200 deserted our bodies have been discovered encountered stacks of partially lined human stays, bodily fluids a number of inches deep on the ground and flies and maggots all through the constructing, an FBI agent testified Thursday.

Prosecutors additionally revealed textual content messages despatched between the funeral house’s homeowners exhibiting they have been underneath rising monetary pressures and had fears that they’d be caught for mishandling the our bodies. Because the our bodies accrued, one of many co-owners even advised eliminating them by digging a giant gap and treating them with lye or setting them on fireplace, based on the texts.

Twenty-three of the our bodies had loss of life dates from 2019 and 61 have been from 2020, FBI agent Andrew Cohen stated. The stays included adults, infants and fetuses. They have been being saved at room temperature in a uncared for constructing within the small Rocky Mountain city of Penrose, he stated.

“It regarded like one thing you’d wish to neglect however cannot,” Cohen stated throughout a listening to for one of many funeral house’s co-owners.

Investigators additionally discovered animal stays and baggage of packaged concrete, Cohen stated. Some family of the deceased acquired pretend ashes somewhat than the cremated stays of their family members, prosecutors have stated.

Probe’s origins

Police in November arrested funeral house homeowners Carie and Jon Hallford in Oklahoma after the married couple allegedly had fled Colorado to keep away from prosecution.

The our bodies have been found in early October after neighbors observed a putrid scent. The Penrose constructing had “makeshift” refrigeration items however Cohen stated they weren’t working when the our bodies have been discovered. Close to the squat constructing have been a submit workplace and some scattered houses, spaced out between dry grass and empty tons with parked semitrailers.

The Hallfords are accused of abusing corpses, stealing, laundering cash and forging paperwork over a number of years on the Return to Nature Funeral Residence, which was primarily based in Colorado Springs and saved stays in close by Penrose. They’re every charged with roughly 190 counts of abuse of a corpse, 5 counts of theft, 4 counts of cash laundering and over 50 counts of forgery.

Carie Hallford’s lawyer, Michael Stuzynski, didn’t instantly problem the proof from the scene that was offered by prosecutors, besides to query cellphone knowledge that prosecutors stated positioned Carie Hallford on the Penrose facility together with her husband. The protection may have one other probability to argue towards the proof throughout a listening to set for subsequent week.

Stuzynski stated after the listening to that he couldn’t speak concerning the case outdoors of court docket.

Jon Hallford remained in custody on the El Paso County jail on Thursday after his bond was lowered from $2 million to $100,000 throughout a listening to final week. His lawyer, Adam Steigerwald, didn’t instantly return a phone message searching for remark.

A number of households who employed Return to Nature to cremate their family have advised The Related Press that the FBI confirmed their stays have been among the many decaying our bodies.

Worry of being found

Jon Hallford was anxious way back to 2020 about getting caught, based on prosecutors.

“My one and solely focus is retaining us out of jail,” stated one textual content message he allegedly wrote.

Different texts included messages between the Hallfords about promoting off property to cowl their bills and worrying about “dropping every thing” in the event that they have been uncovered.

In a 2020 change, Jon Hallford messaged his spouse that they wanted to start “restoring the constructing in Penrose” and appeared to counsel varied methods to do away with the our bodies, based on Kevin Clark, an investigator with the district lawyer’s workplace.

“Choices: A, construct a brand new machine ASAP. B, dig a giant gap and use lye. The place? C, dig a small gap and construct a big fireplace. The place? D, I’m going to jail, which might be going to occur,” the message stated, based on Clark. It was not clear what the “new machine” referred to.

In one more textual content, from final yr, Jon Hallford wrote about coping with decaying our bodies earlier than he seems to provide a dinner order.

“I need to take a bathe as quickly as I get again as a result of whereas I used to be making the switch, I obtained folks juice on me. Need the double cheeseburger, lettuce, wrapped with every thing minus tomatoes, please,” the textual content stated based on Clark.

Additional particulars on how the our bodies got here to be mishandled haven’t been publicly launched after protection attorneys objected to unsealing affidavits within the case.

Victims’ names come to gentle

The invention of our bodies prompted an effort to establish them utilizing fingerprints, dental data, medical {hardware} and DNA. Officers plan in coming days to stage the constructing the place the our bodies have been discovered.

The our bodies recovered included that of a former Military sergeant top quality who was believed to have been buried at a veterans’ cemetery, Cohen stated.

Investigators exhumed the picket casket and located the stays of an individual of a distinct gender inside, he stated. The veteran, who was not recognized in court docket, was later given a funeral with full navy honors at Pikes Peak Nationwide Cemetery, he stated.

In December, family who knew or feared their family members have been among the many deserted our bodies watched in particular person for the primary time because the Hallfords appeared earlier than a choose. One girl held up a photograph of her late son who she thought could have been among the many mishandled our bodies.

A number of dozen units of stays haven’t but been recognized, based on Cohen.

Return to Nature began in 2017 and supplied cremations and “inexperienced” burials with out embalming fluids.

The AP beforehand reported that the Hallfords missed tax funds, have been evicted from considered one of their properties and have been sued for unpaid payments by a crematory that stop doing enterprise with them virtually a yr in the past, based on public data and interviews with individuals who labored with them.

Extra from CBS Information