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Judge unseals funeral home owners’ arrest affidavit

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EL PASO COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) -- 4th Judicial District Judge William Moller unsealed the arrest affidavit for Jon and Carie Hallford, the Return to Nature Funeral Home owners, but the document is expected to be redacted.

In court Friday, Carie Hallford’s attorney argued unsealing the arrest affidavit would impact her right to a fair trial and make it difficult to fill an impartial jury because he said the court document contains “editorialized statements” and photos from inside the funeral home in Penrose, where nearly 200 bodies were found improperly stored.

The prosecution said there are no legal grounds for the arrest affidavit to remain sealed now that the Hallfords are in jail. Judge Moller agreed and ordered the court document to be unsealed.

“the public has a significant interest, not only the individuals and families that have been affected by the case itself but that the public has a right to know what the courts are doing.”

However, the affidavit won’t be released until after Jon Hallford’s preliminary hearing in February and is expected to be redacted to protect victims and witnesses, which the judge said will include some of the photos from inside the funeral home.

Dozens of those photos were shown in court Thursday during Carie Hallford’s preliminary hearing as evidence by the prosecution. Moller described them as “deeply disturbing” and some families, who used Return to Nature to cremate their loved ones, had to leave the courtroom.

They depicted hundreds of bodies, from infants to adults, stacked throughout the dozen rooms in the Penrose building. Many of the bodies were wrapped in plastic and lying on carts, shelves, or even just the floor. Other bodies were found in plastic totes, cardboard boxes, and bodybags, according to testimony from an FBI agent.

The facility had three homemade refrigeration units. Photos showed one of those refrigeration units with more than 40 bodies stacked on top of each other. The FBI agent said none of the units were working and the temperature inside the facility was 70 degrees, which created a significant biohazard situation.

“In some areas of the room, there was several inches thick and (cardboard) prevented a slipping hazard for the investigators that were inside,” said Andrew Cohen, the FBI agent.

Photos from the preliminary hearing show a dark brown liquid covering nearly every floor of the Penrose building, which the FBI agent said was fluid from human decomposition. He said authorities, who wore extensive protective gear, had to put cardboard on the floors to avoid slipping, and the FBI eventually brought in a septic company to try and vacuum up the fluids.

"All I've been left with for months is my imagination," Abby Swoveland said of the inside of the Penrose building. "To actually see what was going on in there, it was beyond horrific. Just to think that our family members were in there and everything that we saw that they truly treated them like trash."

Swoveland's mother was one of the nearly 200 bodies identified inside the funeral home. The FBI said there are still 30 to 40 bodies that haven't been identified. One of the bodies identified by investigators was a veteran, who was supposed to be buried in the Pikes Peak National Cemetery. When the FBI dug up his grave, agents found a woman’s body inside his casket.

The prosecution presented bank records from their business account, which they said showed "extravagant" purchases, including two cars. The Hallfords also bought 660 pounds of quikrete mix from Home Depot. And text messages between the couple showed their struggling financial situation and suggested their relationship was on the rocks. One of the text messages mentioned a possible divorce.

"My one and only focus is keeping us out of jail," Jon texted Carie on May 5, 2020. What is yours?"

“I find it disappointing that you feel I have no respect for you,” Jon texted Carie. “I don't respect when you run and hide, but I absolutely do respect you”

In another text, Jon said to Carie, “I obviously have a hard time going to Penrose alone. And you know why? I've been asking you to go with me for weeks now. Don't get all holy right now at the 11th f*** hour.”

Carie responded, “I have absolutely no desire to argue with you. I'm available to go with you to Penrose whenever you decide you want to go.”

Carie's husband and co-defendant, Jon Hallford, had his bond lowered to $100,000 last week, but, at the time of publication, he has not posted that money and currently remains in the El Paso County Jail. The rest of the preliminary hearing will continue Jan. 17, where the judge will also address Carie's bond, which remains at $2 million, cash only.

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Quinn Ritzdorf

Quinn is a reporter with the 13 Investigates team. Learn more about him here.

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