Colorado Funeral Home Scandal: 30-Year Sentence

0:00A former Colorado funeral homeowner named Kari Hallford just got hit with a 30-year prison sentence for helping her ex-husband stash nearly two, hundred decomposing bodies. This went down Friday in a plea deal that capped her time between 25 and 35 years. Her ex, John Hallford, already pulled 40 years back in February for corpse abuse. She also caught an 18-year federal fraud sentence last month, which she'll serve alongside the stay time. The couple ran return to nature out of Colorado Springs, and a spot in Penrose, pocketing over $1,200 per family for. Cremations they faked with bogus ashes. Greed drove it all. They blew cash on luxuries they could have covered real services multiple times. Families are heartbroken, like one daughter whose mom's body rotted in toxic goo after they scattered fake ashes in Hawaii. She blasted Kari for destroying her mother's dignity, prepped just right for the afterlife. She teared up in court, apologizing and pinning it on an abusive marriage full of lies, though

1:02she wouldn't call John a monster. Prosecutors fire back, saying Kari wasn't just along for the ride. She charmed clients, took checks, and fed bodies to John's gruesome work. This mess exposed Colorado as the last date without funeral home rules, sparking new laws for routine checks and director licenses. Their scandals hit two, like decomposing bodies in Pueblo and body parts sales in Montrose. Now with the vourses, appeals and overlapping sentences, the hallfords fallout is forcing the whole industry to tighten up before more families get burned. That's the story for today. To our news today, driven by AI, I'm Kori with the story.