An El Paso County Judge informed the co-owner of Return to Nature Funeral Home on Friday that he is potentially facing more than 250 charges.

Jon Hallford made his first court appearance in El Paso County on Friday for his virtual advisement hearing. Return to Nature Funeral Home owners Jon and Carrie Hallford were arrested earlier this month in Oklahoma after an investigation was opened into a Penrose building connected to the couple in which nearly 200 bodies were found improperly stored in October.

Previous reporting from The Gazette details that law enforcement officials found bodies in the funeral home in “abhorrent conditions,” including bodies dating back to 2019 and that “human decomposition fluids and insects lined the floors.”

An arrest affidavit for Jon and Carrie Hallford additionally detailed that the couple attempted to flee law enforcement after the raid of the Return to Nature Funeral Home location in Penrose.

Hallfords ran from law enforcement in Colorado, FBI arrest affidavit indicates

At Jon Hallford’s virtual advisement Judge Carissa Cruson informed him that she had found probable cause for 190 preliminary counts of abuse of a corpse, 61 counts of forgery and four counts of theft and money laundering.

The preliminary charges against Jon Hallford could change prior to his first appearance, scheduled for Dec. 5.

The public defender representing Hallford informed Cruson that she would like to reserve bond argument for a later court date. Both Jon and Carie Hallford remain in custody at the El Paso County jail on a $2 million bond each.

At Carie Hallford’s virtual advisement hearing on Wednesday a judge denied a request to reduce her $2 million bond. Carie Hallford is also scheduled to make her first appearance on Dec. 5.

Co-owner of Return to Nature Funeral Home booked into El Paso County jail

Demolition possibly next for Return to Nature Funeral Home in Penrose