TThe owners of a Colorado funeral home have been ordered to pay $950 million to the families of 190 victims whose bodies were found decomposing inside.
The judge in a civil case ruled on Monday that Return to Nature house in Penrose should pay the bereaved families who paid for cremation services and received fake ashes while their bodies decomposed in a building infested with larvae.
The couple reportedly took $130,000 families for cremation and burial services that were never held. But the legal victory is largely symbolic, as families may never receive a payment.
The house’s founders, Jon and Carie Hallford — who also face hundreds of criminal charges in separate federal and state cases — have long faced financial ruin. They missed paying taxes and were evicted from their home in 2023.
“If nothing else […] the trial will bring more understanding to the case”, Crystina Page, mother who rented the house to cremate her deceased son in 2019, told the Associated Press. “I hope this makes people think, ‘Wow, this isn’t just about ash.’”
Jon is a owner of a multigenerational funeral home with 19 years of experience in the sector, according to KRDO, a local radio station. The couple opened Return to Nature in May 2016, marketing it as a place for environmentally conscious burials that do not use chemicals or embalming fluids, and opt for biodegradable coffins. Green funerals are legal in Colorado, but bodies must be buried within a 24-hour period or refrigerated.
The Fremont County Sheriff’s Office launched an investigation into Return to Nature on Oct. 4 after an odor coming from the home led authorities to the scene. When investigators discovered more than 100 bodies piled in the house, the couple reportedly fled Colorado to escape prosecution.
They were later arrested in Oklahoma in November and charged with multiple counts of money laundering, forgery, theft and abuse of a corpse. Jon remains in custody, while Carie was granted bail but did not attend the civil case hearings.
Andrew Swan, class action attorney for the victims’ families, said he hopes the case will bring the Halfords to court.
“I would have preferred them to participate,” Swan said, “if only because I wanted to put them on the witness stand, put them under oath and ask them how they did it, not one, not two, but hundreds. often.”
Colorado has lenient regulations for funeral homes compared to other states. But the Halfords’ affair played a passing role new legislation to license funeral workers in the state. From 2026, funeral home operators will be required to hold a degree in mortuary science and undertake a year of apprenticeship, as well as pass exams and background checks.
This story originally appeared on Time.com read the full story
