By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2024-12-12 02:02:01 | Updated at 2024-12-22 22:11:13
1 week ago
A once-popular Colorado funeral home director has been slapped with additional charges for abusing his client's corpses and stealing their money.
Miles Harford, 34, was arrested in February after investigators found a 63-year-old Christine Rosales' corpse inside a hearse they say he had kept outside of his Denver rental property for two years.
Officers also found the cremated remains of at least 30 people who died between 2012 and 2021 after the property owner noticed boxes inside a crawl space while cleaning up the house after Harford was evicted.
He was originally charged with abuse of a corpse, forgery of the death certificate and theft of the money paid for Rosales' cremation and briefly disappeared following the discovery.
But when Harford finally appeared in court on Monday for his arraignment, he was hit with seven new counts, including two counts of theft from an at-risk victim, two counts of theft and three counts of abuse of a corpse 'in a way that would outrage normal family sensibilities,' according to the Denver Post.
Each new count relates to a separate victim, 9News reports.
Miles Harford, 34, hid a dark secret as he drove around a hearse carrying a corpse for years
The remains belonged to 63-year-old Christine Rosales (pictured)
He had apparently told his next door neighbors they might smell 'death' emanating from the vehicle because he used it to transport bodies
Harford operated the Apollo Funeral & Cremation Services in the suburb of Littleton, which performed cremations for people who were low on money and those whose next of kin were unknown.
But he had apparently been experiencing financial trouble in his business and was at times not able to complete cremations to provide remains to families for services.
As a result, police said he might have provided family members with another person's ashes instead of the remains of their loved ones.
He also reportedly drove around the hearse with Rosales' body inside for years as his business spiraled downward, the Denver Gazette reports.
Harford never explained why the remains were kept in the hearse, but his next door neighbor told the outlet Harford warned them they may smell 'death' emanating from the vehicle, which he said he used to transport bodies.
He also reportedly drove around the hearse with Rosales' body inside for years as his business spiraled downward, the Denver Gazette reports.
He never explained why the remains were kept in the house, but his next door neighbor told the outlet Harford warned them they may smell 'death' emanating from the vehicle, which he said he used to transport bodies.
Rosales' body was finally discovered on February 6, during Harford's court-ordered eviction.
The beaming former funeral home director was slapped Monday with additional charges
Her family has since giver her a proper memorial and cremation, according to the Post.
They said she was the head cook at the Sheridan School District 2 for three decades before she died of natural causes in August 2022.
Rosales' twin sister, Cathy Vorndran, even said that when Harford was in middle school, he worked for Rosales washing dishes.
'She gave him free lunch,' Vordran said.
Authorities have now identified at least 18 of the cremated remains, and accuse him of stealing at least $500 from victims including Don Campbell and Tom Simpleman, who had contacted the funeral home director to arrange pre-paid cremation services so that their children would not have to deal with the burden when they passed away.
The couple claimed Harford came to their home in the summer of 2023 - months after his business officially closed - and they paid him just under $3,000.
'I was kind of relieved to know something was going to be done and that our name... wasn't in with all the names and this huge pile,' Simpleman told 9News after hearing about the additional charges.
'We've always tried to work hard at making sure somebody's not taking advantage of us, especially since they like to take advantage of old people,' he said.
'We tried really hard to be careful of all of that, but people get taken.'
He added that he and Don have searched for someone to redo their cremation plans, but have not yet made any new commitments.
'I'd like to see him go to jail,' Simpleman said of Harford, 'and we'd like to get our money back.'
Victims Don Campbell and Tom Simpleman told how they paid Harford nearly $3,000 to arrange their cremations
Another alleged victim, Rich Schneider, said in 2017 he paid Harford $1,200 in advance for his cremation.
He said he believed the money would be kept in a trust until it was time for the service, and years later, in 2021 - after he became the primary caregiver to his friend's mother, Nancy Kloverstrum - he approached Harford again for the same service.
Schneider said Harford conducted all the business online at the time, but provided a similar contract to the one he had received, and Kloverstrum paid about $1,300.
But after Harford was arrested earlier this year, Schneider visited the bank where Harford told him the trust was being held - and found out that the bank had no record of his accounts.
'I'm not only out my money [and] taking care of my peace of mind, but Nancy, right now, Nancy does not have a plan to take care of her in the event something happens to her,' he said.
'I really am not a horrible, vindictive guy - I don't wish that for anybody, but I really don't know if there's anything he can do to atone for this,' Schneider added of Harford.
The former funeral home director was released on his own recognizance shortly after his February arrest, according to the Gazette.
He is now due back in court on January 17.
If he now fails to meet any of the conditions of his release in the meantime, he must pay a $50,000 bond.
