Jon and Carie Hallford, the owners of the Return to Nature Funeral Home, had their first appearance in an El Paso County courtroom on Tuesday afternoon. Following this appearance, both defendants have their preliminary hearings scheduled for January.
Jon Hallford appeared before Judge Hilary Gurney in an orange jumpsuit around 1:30 p.m. Jon Hallford was presented with an option to a public defender, at this time Hallford did not waive that appointment. The judge set Jon Hallford's preliminary hearing for January 4th at 1:30 p.m.
Carrie Hallford appeared a few minutes following Jon Hallford before the court and had her preliminary hearing scheduled for January 11th at 1:30 in Division 9 of the El Paso County Courts.
News 5 will continue to have full coverage of this case's proceedings as it moves through the courts.
The funeral home was the center of an investigation after 190 bodies were found improperly stored. The husband and wife are being held on $2 million in bonds each. The two were arrested in Oklahoma earlier this month.
The Return to Nature Funeral Home came under a multi-agency investigation in October following reports of a complaint about a foul odor in the area. Investigators said they found more than 150 bodies in various states of decomposition inside the building that were not properly stored.
In what was a multi-agency clean-up effort, coroner offices and the Colorado Bureau of Investigation worked tirelessly for a couple of weeks to remove the bodies from the building before the identification process could begin.
It was not until early November that the owners of the Return to Nature Funeral Home were arrested in Oklahoma. Jon and Carie Hallford were moved to El Paso County by late November where both appeared in court and had cash bonds set at $2 million. The Hallfords are facing hundreds of criminal charges for abuse of a corpse, fraud, and money laundering.
Following their arrests, News5's Eleanor Sheahan spoke with families who were victims of the funeral home.
WATCH: VICTIMS OF RETURN TO NATURE SHARE WHAT OWNER'S ARRESTS MEAN TO THEM
If you have been impacted by the Return to Nature Funeral Home, the FBI has recommended grief counseling.
WATCH: GRIEF COUNSELING AVAILABLE AFTER RETURN TO NATURE FUNERAL HOME INCIDENT
RELATED:
Coroner: Some remains in Return to Nature Funeral Home investigation were 'several years old'
Investigation into 115 bodies continues at Return to Nature Funeral Home in Penrose
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