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Colorado man who abused nearly 200 corpses gets 40 years, families call him a 'monster'

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AP Alert

Colorado man who abused nearly 200 corpses gets 40 years, families call him a 'monster'

JESSE BEDAYN and MATTHEW BROWN Associated Press
Feb 6, 2026
Feb 6, 2026 Updated Mar 15, 2026
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COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — A judge sentenced a Colorado funeral home owner to 40 years in state prison Friday for leaving nearly 200 bodies rotting in a building for years and giving families fake ashes.

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Decomposing Bodies Colorado — Crystina Page, left, hugs Angelika Stedman on Friday outside the El Paso County Courthouse in Colorado Springs, Colo., ahead of the sentencing of Return to Nature funeral home owner Jon Hallford.
Thomas Peipert, Associated Press

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Decomposing Bodies Colorado — Fremont County coroner Randy Keller, center, and other authorities survey the area Oct. 7, 2023, at the Return to Nature Funeral Home where more than 100 bodies were improperly stored in Penrose, Colo.
Parker Seibold, The Gazette

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Decomposing Bodies Colorado — Chrystina Page, right, holds back Heather De Wolf as she yells at Jon Hallford, left, the owner of Back to Nature Funeral Home, on Feb. 8, 2024, as he leaves the El Paso County Judicial Building in Colorado Springs, Colo., with his lawyers after a preliminary hearing.
Christian Murdock, The Gazette

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