Deathcare Docket: Legal Updates on Four Separate Allegations of Neglected Bodies

Deathcare dominated the headlines once again last week as not one, not two, but four separate, but equally egregious and/or perplexing, cases of funeral directors or owners accused of abandoning or neglecting the bodies placed in their care.

Hallfords change their pleas

Last fall, Jon and Carie Hallford both accepted guilty pleas to federal fraud charges connected to the 2023 discovery of 191 decomposing bodies at Return to Nature green funeral home in Penrose, Colorado. Now, Carie has withdrawn her guilty plea and will take her chances at an April 14 trial rather than the maximum 15-year sentence that was recommended. In the meantime, her husband Jon has accepted a new plea deal that “doesn’t bind the state to sentencing terms,” meaning the judge could sentence him to more than 15 years in prison.

Police investigating Heaven Bound

The Charles County, Maryland State’s Attorney’s Office has asked state police to investigate Heaven Bound Cremation Services to determine if criminal charges are in order. The crematorium was shut down in January after inspections by the state’s Board of Morticians and Funeral Directors found multiple infractions, including stacked bodies, unsanitary conditions, and an inoperable retort. In the meantime, the governor has ordered an in-depth review of the board, and a bill that would force the board to adopt stricter regulations has been introduced.

Chicago crematory voluntarily halts operations

The owner of Heights Crematory in Chicago has voluntarily shut down operations while Illinois authorities work to determine why bodies were being improperly stored in a trailer. The bodies, which were “partially wrapped in sheets and clear plastic bags, with their faces and body parts sticking out,” were photographed and shared by CBS News Chicago. State regulators are overseeing the cremation of the bodies that were discovered, and Heights is no longer accepting bodies from other funeral homes for cremation. CBS News Chicago also reports that the company is in serious financial trouble, and that regulators have previously cited the crematory after finding “six to seven bodies waiting to be cremated on [the] main floor.”

Case against Florida director continued

Elliott Graham, a former Jacksonville, Florida funeral director who is facing 10 felony charges of misusing $90k in funeral funds and abandoning bodies for months in a building with no power, appeared in court last week and was granted a continuance until March 26. The January 2024 discovery of the conditions at Marion Graham Mortuary prompted Governor Ron DeSantis to sign a bill into law last year to give the state “more authority to investigate derelict funeral homes.”