Judge rules Penrose funeral home owner’s case to move to trial, bond lowered
EL PASO COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) - The preliminary hearing for one of the owners of the Penrose funeral home where almost 200 bodies were found improperly stored continued today.
Carie Hallford, and her husband Jon, are accused of storing nearly 200 bodies, including fetuses, infants, and adults according to the FBI, inside a Penrose funeral home. The FBI said the bodies were stored in various ways, including wrapped in plastic, bodybags, stored in cardboard boxes and plastic totes.
The preliminary hearing ended Wednesday for Carie, where the judge decided all felony counts would move to trial.
In court, the defense argued the 189 counts of abuse of a corpse against Carie should be thrown out. Carie's lawyer said the abuse wasn’t a continuing act and should be considered neglect instead.
The judge disagreed saying the abuse of the corpse was a continuing act to avoid being caught. They said Carie was part of the process and knew the consequences. He pointed to text messages between Carie and Jon, which the prosecution presented as evidence last week, to back up his ruling.
“Options: A - Build a new machine ASAP. B - Dig a big hole and use lye. Where? C - Dig a small hole and build a large fire. Where? D - I go to prison, which is probably going to happen.”
Colorado law says abuse of a corpse is treating the remains of a person in a way that would outrage a normal family. Lisa Ostly whose father was a victim says she’s definitely outraged.
“I feel outraged, anger, and just all the things. I think that is an interesting definition but I think they met the burden.”
Carrie’s defense also asked the judge to lower her bond. He said she has no criminal history and her current bond of $2 million cash-only violated her rights.
The prosecution said Carie was a flight risk and referenced her Google searches of how to avoid detection while she was on the run, more evidence the prosecution presented last week.
However, the judge lowered Carrie’s bond to match her husband Jon's at $100,000 cash, surety, or property.
At the end of the hearing, the prosecution said there aren’t currently active negotiations for a plea deal but they said a deal isn’t off the table.
"I want to think she is innocent until proven guilty but she doesn’t look to have any emotion, remorse, any conscious,” Ostly said.
Carie’s next hearing is scheduled for March, while Jon will be in court for his preliminary hearing in February.
