A judge decided to accept a motion Thursday from Jon Hallford’s attorney, lowering the former funeral home owner’s bond from $2 million to $100,000.

The move, despite a request against emotional outbursts from 4th Judicial District Judge William Moller before the ruling, elicited immediate gasps from the packed courtroom. Some family members gathered out in the hall were visibly upset and crying.

Hallford is facing more than 100 felony charges stemming from the discovery of 190 improperly stored bodies at a building in Penrose connected to the Return to Nature Funeral Home that he ran with his wife, Carie Hallford. In November, probable cause for 190 preliminary counts of abuse of a corpse, 61 counts of forgery and four counts of theft and money laundering were listed.

The lowered bond probably will allow Hallford to be released from custody. The court set bond conditions including GPS monitoring, sober monitoring and the surrender of Hallford’s passport. He also will be required to check in with pretrial services three times a week and is prohibited from contacting family members of alleged victims.

The judge took into account Hallford’s lack of criminal record when making his ruling, despite Chief Deputy District Attorney Rachael Powell’s argument that Hallford presented a flight risk after being apprehended in Oklahoma. Powell also shared text messages from unreleased court records seeming to show Hallford’s knowledge of wrongdoing and intent to evade custody.

Powell quoted several messages allegedly sent by Hallford, including one text to Carie Hallford from August that stated, “If Penrose were to be exposed, we both lose everything anyway.”

Another text sent by Jon Hallford in May 2020 and read to the court:

“I don’t give a f— about this family. I’ll give a f— about what’s happening in Penrose and not going to prison and getting the f— out of this community. My one and only focus is keeping us out of jail.”

The judge said that without the context of the text messages, he would not factor them into his ruling.

Dozens of family members of victims attended Thursday’s hearing in the courtroom and in an overflow room.

“I am floored by the ruling today,” said Abby Swoveland, who was at the hearing representing her mother, a victim. “The trauma to our families, our communities, our first responders, law enforcement — the impact is immeasurable. And yet he will be walking among us. The revictimization continues.”

Thursday’s hearing precedes Hallford’s preliminary hearing and the formal reading of charges. During the hearing, the court also considered a motion to release a probable cause affidavit to the public, but deferred the decision until Jan. 11 when Carie Hallford is scheduled to be in court.

Jon Hallford’s next court appearance is scheduled for Feb. 8.

Jon and Carie Hallford appear in their booking photos for the Muskogee County Jail in Oklahoma following their arrest Nov. 8. 

Image Courtesy of the Muskogee County Jail