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 for stashing nearly 200 decaying human bodies in an office building over four years.

One of the bodies was the mother of Derrick Johnson. The 45-year-old learned from the FBI that the ashes he had buried behind his home on Maui weren’t actually his mother’s remains. Instead, her body was languishing with 188 others in a building in Penrose, outside Colorado Springs.

It was one of the largest discoveries of decaying bodies at a funeral home in the U.S. It prompted lawmakers to overhaul the state’s lax funeral home regulations.

The Hallfords also admitted in a separate case to defrauding the federal government out of nearly $900,000 in pandemic-era aid for small businesses. Even as the Hallford’s bills went unpaid, authorities said the couple spent lavishly, including on Tiffany jewelry, luxury cars and laser-body sculpting as they pocketed the money clients paid for cremations.

They were arrested in Oklahoma in November 2023 and charged with abusing nearly 200 corpses. Attorneys for Jon and Carie Hallford did not respond to an AP request for comment.

Hundreds of families learned from officials that the ashes they were given by the Hallfords weren’t actually their loved ones’ remains, which had instead moldered in a room-temperature building.

At Friday’s sentencing, where Johnson plans to speak, Jon Hallford will be given between 30 to 50 years in prison. He was already sentenced to 20 years in the federal fraud case. Carie Hallford’s hearing is in April after a judge accepted their plea deals in December.

Here are key takeaways.

The gruesome discovery

Investigators were tipped off to a stench coming from the building in October 2023, and donned layers of gloves, boots and respirators to enter the 2,500 square-foot building, according to an arrest affidavit.

There were 189 bodies stacked throughout the building, sometimes so high they blocked doorways, the document said. Quikrete was also found, which investigators believed was used as fake ashes to give to families. Some had decayed for years, others several months, according to the affidavit. Decomposition fluid covered the floors.

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

A lavish lifestyle

The Hallfords pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and Jon Hallford has been sentenced in federal court for defrauding the federal government out of nearly $900,000 dollars and cheating costumers.

They spent lavishly, authorities said, buying a GMC Yukon and Infiniti worth over $120,000, along with $31,000 in cryptocurrency, and luxury items from stores like Gucci and Tiffany & Co.

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

“While the bodies rotted in secret, (the Hallfords) lived, they laughed and they dined,” he said. “My mom’s cremation money likely helped pay for a cocktail, a day at the spa, a first-class flight.”

Johnson’s mother

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

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

Johnson spoke with his mother nearly everyday. After growing frail from diabetes, Lopes died on Super Bowl Sunday in 2023. Johnson was by her side.

Return to Nature was hired to cremate Lopes’ body. Johnson met at the funeral home with Carie Hallford, who gave him what he thought were his mother’s ashes.

Preparing for the sentencing

Following the call from the FBI, Johnson spiraled, beset by panic attacks and was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.

When he shut his eyes, he imagined being inside the building where his mother’s body was found. Johnson started seeing a therapist and joined Zoom meetings with other victims.

Johnson has slowly improved in therapy, engaging more with his students and children. He began practicing what he planned to say at the Hallfords’ sentencings. Closing his eyes, he envisioned standing in front of the judge — and the Hallfords.

“Justice is, it’s the part that is missing from this whole equation,” he said. “Maybe somehow this justice frees me.”

“And then there’s part of me that’s scared it won’t, because it probably won’t.”