Takeaways from AP’s report on a woman whose body was among 189 left to decay in a funeral home

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) — A Colorado funeral home owner will be sentenced Friday to prison for hiding nearly 200 decomposed human bodies in an office building for four years.

one of the bodies Derrick Johnson’s mother. The 45-year-old man learned from the FBI that the ashes he buried behind his Maui home were not actually his mother’s remains. Instead, his body was rotting in a building in Penrose, outside Colorado Springs, along with 188 others.

He was one of these: The greatest discoveries of decaying bodies It has prompted lawmakers at a U.S. funeral home to overhaul its funeral service. The state’s lax funeral home regulations.

The Hallfords also admitted in a separate lawsuit that: defraud the federal government All of the nearly $900,000 in aid given to small businesses during the pandemic. Even though Hallford’s bills went unpaid, the couple spent lavishly, including on Tiffany jewelry, luxury cars and laser body sculptures, while pocketing the money customers paid for cremations, authorities said.

They were arrested in Oklahoma in November 2023 and accused of mistreating nearly 200 corpses. Lawyers for Jon and Carie Hallford did not respond to AP’s request for comment.

Hundreds of families learned from authorities that the ashes given to them by the Hallfords were not, in fact, the remains of their loved ones, but instead had grown moldy in a building at room temperature.

Jon Hallford will be sentenced to between 30 and 50 years in prison in Friday’s verdict, which Johnson plans to speak about. he already sentenced to 20 years in prison in a federal fraud case. Carie Hallford’s trial scheduled for April after judge accepts plea deals in december.

Here are the key takeaways.

terrible discovery

According to the arrest affidavit, investigators received a tip about an odor coming from the building in October 2023 and donned layers of gloves, boots and a respirator to enter the 2,500-square-foot building.

The document stated that 189 bodies were stacked throughout the building, sometimes so high that they blocked the doors. Quikrete, which researchers believe was used as fake ash to give to families, was also found. Some had rotted for years, others for several months, according to the affidavit. Decomposition fluid covered the ground.

Investigators identified the bodies using fingerprints, hospital bracelets and medical implants, the affidavit said.

A luxurious lifestyle

The Hallfords pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and Jon Hallford was convicted in federal court of defrauding the federal government of nearly $900,000 and defrauding customers.

They spent lavishly, buying a GMC Yukon and Infiniti worth more than $120,000, as well as $31,000 in cryptocurrency and luxury items from stores such as Gucci and Tiffany & Co, authorities said.

Johnson, who was among those who received fake ashes, addressed the judge during their sentencing in federal court.

“They (the Hallfords) lived and laughed and ate while the bodies rotted in secret,” he said. “Mom’s cremation money probably helped pay for a cocktail, a day at the spa, and a first-class flight.”

Johnson’s mother

Johnson grew up in an affordable housing complex in Colorado Springs with her mother, Ellen Marie Shriver-Lopes.

Neighborhood kids called her “mom,” some of whom would sleep on the couch when they needed a place to stay and a hot meal. Lopes, who spent her life in social work, often said: “If you have the ability and the voice to help: Help.”

Johnson talked to his mother almost every day. Lopes, weakened by diabetes, died on Super Bowl Sunday, 2023. Johnson was with him.

Back to Nature was hired to cremate Lopes’ body. At the funeral home, Johnson met Carie Hallford, who gave him what she thought were her mother’s ashes.

Preparing for punishment

After the call from the FBI, Johnson, who had a panic attack, was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.

When he closed his eyes, he imagined himself inside the building where his mother’s body was found. Johnson began seeing a therapist and participated in Zoom meetings with other victims.

Johnson slowly made progress in therapy and interacted more with her students and children. He began to put into practice what he had planned to say during the Hallfords’ sentencing. He closed his eyes and imagined standing in front of the judge and the Hallfords.

“Fairness is the missing part of this whole equation,” he said. “Maybe somehow this justice will set me free.”

“And part of me is afraid it won’t happen, because it probably won’t.”