Funeral home owners sent disturbing texts before almost 200 decomposing bodies were found
Messages of two funeral home owners have been revealed after the pair were arrested following the discovery of 189 bodies.
Carie and Jon Hallford were arrested after detectives allegedly discovered 189 bodies at the funeral home that they ran together.
Now, disturbing messages that the couple sent to each other since 2019 have emerged.
Advert
Detectives discovered the remains which belong to adults, infants, and foetuses in a state of decomposition at the Return to Nature funeral home in October 2023.
The horrifying discovery was made after neighbours reported a 'dead animal smell' coming from the building.
Some of the bodies discovered are thought to belong to people who died as far back as 2019.
Speaking in a hearing on January 11, FBI agent Andrew Cohen said: "It looked like something you'd like to forget but can't."
The Return to Nature funeral home offered a green burial service without the use of embalming chemicals or metal caskets.
But the pair were unable to carry this out, and instead the bodies were found rotting, with the couple allegedly sending fake ashes to the deceased's loved ones.
Messages between the pair have now emerged which appear to show them contemplating how to deal with the mounting problem, according to district attorney's office investigator, Kevin Clark.
The pair had been discussing 'restoring the building in Penrose', which included how to dispose of the bodies.
Jon allegedly wrote: "Options: A, build a new machine ASAP. B, dig a big hole and use lye. Where?
"C, dig a small hole and build a large fire. Where? D, I go to prison, which is probably going to happen.”
Lye is a substance which can be used to break down bodies and reduce them to a liquid.
It's not clear what he meant when he allegedly referred to 'a new machine'.
Other messages show the heartless manner in which the pair allegedly discussed treating the bodies.
One message was allegedly sent by Jon after he had been working with the bodies.
It read: “I want to take a shower as soon as I get back because while I was making the transfer, I got people juice on me."
He went on to state what he wanted for dinner after the disturbing message, allegedly writing: "Want the double cheeseburger, lettuce, wrapped with everything minus tomatoes, please."
The pair have been charged with approximately 190 counts of abuse of a corpse, five counts of theft, four counts of money laundering and over 50 counts of forgery.
Jon's bond has been set at $100,000, while a hearing to discuss Carie's bond has been set for January 12.
The case continues.
Kit Roberts