A couple accused of abandoning nearly 200 bodies at the Colorado funeral home they owned allegedly used payments for cremations and vehicle burials, cryptocurrency, a $1,500 dinner in Las Vegas and other personal items.
FBI agent Andrew Cohen testified before a packed courtroom Thursday that Jon and Carie Hallford bought a GMC Yukon and an Infiniti for more than $120,000 with payments from the families of the deceased, according to The Associated Press. The money was reportedly enough to cover the costs of cremating twice as many bodies found decomposing in the storage facility of his business in Penrose.
Adam Steigerwald, Jon's lawyer, argued that the prosecution has not proven that the money in his trading account was spent to conceal the origin of the funds, meaning it does not fit the crime of money laundering. He also said the couple used money from the federal Small Business Administration to purchase the Yukon.
Cohen said the money, which they received as an adjustment to a pandemic-era small business loan, used to purchase the Yukon was obtained fraudulently after Jon lied and said he was not behind on child support payments. children.
COLORADO FUNERAL HOME OWNERS FACE CHARGES AFTER DISCOVERY OF 190 DECOMPOSITIONING BODIES
Shown here are mugshots of Jon Hallford, left, and Carie Hallford, right, the owners of Return to Nature Funeral Home in Colorado Springs, Colorado. (Muskogee County Sheriff's Office via AP, file)
The testimony about the couple's spending practices came during a hearing in which a judge decided that prosecutors presented enough evidence to show Jon should stand trial. It was previously decided that Carie will also stand trial.
Both Jon and Carie were arrested in Oklahoma in November after each was charged with 190 counts of abuse of a corpse, five counts of robbery, four counts of money laundering and more than 50 counts of forgery. None of them have pleaded guilty yet.
COLORADO FUNERAL HOME OWNER WHO ALLEGEDLY LEFT NEARLY 200 BODIES TO ROT WILL APPEAR IN COURT
During a previous hearing for Carie, prosecutors presented text messages suggesting the Hallfords attempted to cover up their financial difficulties by leaving the bodies at the Penrose facility.
Cohen testified that the storage facility had makeshift refrigeration units that were not in use when the decomposing bodies were discovered inside the maggot-infested building.
Jon and Carie Hallford also had a storage facility for their business in Penrose, Colorado, where the 190 decomposing bodies were found. (Jerilee Bennett/The Gazette via AP, File)
According to prosecutors, Jon was worried about being caught as early as 2020 and suggested dumping the bodies in a large hole before treating them with bleach or setting them on fire.
“My only goal is to keep us out of jail,” he wrote in a text message, prosecutors alleged.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Jon was released from jail after posting $100,000 bail in late January, while Carie remains in jail for the same amount.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
