Carie Hallford receives 30-year prison sentence for Colorado corpse abuse scheme

10 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Apr 24

Hallford, 48, was sentenced in Colorado state court after nearly 200 decomposing bodies were found at the Return to Nature funeral home she co-owned near Colorado Springs.
She also received an 18-year federal sentence for fraud, having defrauded families and the Small Business Administration out of over $1 million combined.
The scandal led to new state laws mandating funeral home inspections and inspired victims' families to form the Colorado Remembers non-profit to support those affected by funeral home abuses.

Colorado was the last state to regulate funeral homes. Are its new laws enough to prevent another tragedy?

The U.S. has a lucrative market for human remains. Is this Colorado scandal just one symptom of a larger problem?

The Hallfords were ordered to pay $1 million. How will victims ever see that money?

Nearly 200 bodies were left to decay for years. How did this horrific business go completely unnoticed?

Carie Hallford claimed she was an abused wife. Was she a victim or an equal partner in the crimes?

With sentences served concurrently, does the punishment truly fit the scale of their shocking, years-long deception?