Jon Hallford sentenced to 40 years for abuse of a corpse charges at Return to Nature Funeral Home

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) - October 4, 2023, was the beginning of the nearly three-year-long nightmare for Southern Colorado families. February 6, 2026 hopes to be the end.

At 1:30 p.m. on Friday, Jon Hallford entered Courtroom 8 at the El Paso County Combined Courts to receive his sentence, which at times has come under sharp criticism from victims' families.

Jon Hallford, along with his wife Carie, ran the now-infamous Return to Nature funeral home, where they left close to 200 bodies to stack up and decompose, reportedly giving families fake cremains.

Families have been fighting for justice ever since, and have previously urged for longer sentences. On Friday, Jon was sentenced to 40 years for the state charges.

Jon Hallford spoke following the victim statements.

“I will regret my actions for the rest of my life," said Hallford. "Everything I did was wrong.”

Hallford also acknowledged that his apologies and regret would ring hollow to those he hurt.

"I feel like he was right when he said that. It sounded like empty words. I think it was purely performative. For the judge, for the court, for the cameras, whatever the case may be. So it meant absolutely nothing to me. I felt absolutely nothing," said Tonya Wilson, who entrusted the Hallfords with her mother.

KRDO13 Investigates asked victims who attended the court hearing if today felt like the end, with the ending of prosecution at the state and federal levels against Jon Hallford.

"I don't think this is the end of it for us, the living victims. We are going to have to live with this forever. I will take it as a step towards healing, knowing that you know he won't see the light of day, or know what a hamburger tastes like, or a Slurpee for quite a long time," said Derrick Johnson, who flew in from Hawaii for the sentencing hearing, entrusted the Hallfords with his mother.

In August 2025, a judge denied a plea deal for Jon Hallford that would've sentenced him to a 20-year prison sentence for the state charges, which was expected to run concurrently – or at the same time – as his federal wire fraud sentence. Carrie Hallford's plea deal was also rejected for similar reasons months later.

At the end of 2025, a tug-of-war ensued. The District Attorney would offer a new plea deal. Jon Hallford would reject it.

Until the middle of December, when Jon and Carie Hallford's plea deal with the District Attorney was accepted. It's a deal that carries a sentencing range of 30 to 50 years for Jon and carries 20 to 30 years for Carie. With Jon's sentencing finished, all that's left now is Carrie's.

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