• Owner of US funeral house sentenced to 40 years for corpse abuse
• Nearly 200 bodies found stacked and decomposing after fake ashes were given to families

Jon Hallford, co-owner of a funeral home in Penrose, Colorado, was sentenced to 40 years in prison after nearly 200 decomposing bodies were discovered in the facility under his supervision, facing charges of corpse abuse.

Before the sentence was handed down, Hallford apologized in court and listened to family members recount nightmares about their loved ones decomposing under his care, describing him as a “monster” who deserved to “rot” in prison.

His ex-wife and business partner, Carie Hallford, has pleaded guilty to similar charges and is awaiting her sentencing.

Investigations revealed the funeral home had provided grieving families with fake ashes instead of their loved ones’ remains, and 189 bodies were improperly stored in the building over four years.

The courtroom was packed with family members demanding the maximum sentence, with Kelly Mackeen, one of the victims, saying: “I am the daughter of a mother who was treated like yesterday’s trash, left to rot with hundreds of others. My heart is broken, and I pray for mercy every day.”

Bodies were found piled in unrefrigerated areas inside the funeral home, including children and fetuses among the victims.

Judge Eric Bentley commented: “I personally believe every human being is inherently good, but we live in a world that tests that belief every day, and your crimes, Mr. Hallford, test it.”

Hallford had pleaded guilty hoping for a reduced sentence and apologized before sentencing: “I had many chances to stop everything and walk away, but I did not. My mistakes will echo for generations. Everything I did was wrong.”

Prosecutors said the couple was driven by “greed,” despite earning enough to care properly for the bodies.

The funeral home, about 48 kilometers south of Colorado Springs, specialized in “green burials,” where no chemicals, including embalming fluids, were used and bodies were buried in biodegradable caskets.

Investigations began after reports of a foul odor from the property, with officials discovering 115 bodies in early October. Hallford was charged with attempting to conceal “improper storage of human remains.”

Green burials are allowed in Colorado if remains are buried within 24 hours or properly refrigerated, while funeral home operators are not required to hold a license, a mortuary science degree, or even a high school diploma.

Since the scandal, authorities have passed stricter regulations to govern funeral home operations in the state.