Return to Nature Funeral Home owners to change federal plea to guilty

The owners of the Return to Nature Funeral Home near Colorado Springs are set to change their pleas to guilty in their federal case, according to court records.

Jon and Carie Hallford — Colorado funeral home owners accused of nearly 200 counts of corpse abuse and 15 counts of federal wire fraud — each filed a notice of disposition and a motion requesting a change-of-plea hearing in their federal case Thursday, according to court records.

The couple originally pleaded not guilty to all federal charges during an April 18 hearing, court records show.

In July, the couple was offered a plea deal in their state-level case.

The Hallfords face 286 criminal charges — including 85 counts of forgery, 190 counts of corpse abuse and multiple charges of money laundering and theft — according to Colorado court records. If the Hallfords take the deal with the state during Friday’s arraignment hearing, they could serve up to 20 years in prison.

The state-level criminal case has been delayed multiple times, angering some families of the deceased who are eager for the case to be resolved.

“Every single time this is postponed or this is dragged out, it just reopens that whole wound all over again,” Heather DeWolf told The Associated Press in March. She wore a shirt with a photo of her son, Zach, who died at age 33 in 2020 and whose remains were handled by the Hallfords’ funeral home.

The Hallfords’ federal jury trial for wire fraud was set to begin next month but has been vacated, according to court records. Instead the couple will return to court Oct. 24 for their federal change-of-plea hearing.

The investigation into the funeral home started when residents complained about a “putrid” smell coming from the couple’s business storage facility. Responding officers found nearly 200 bodies stacked on top of each other, all in various stages of decay, and said flies and maggots were found throughout the building.