The 46-year-old funeral home owner, identified as Jon Hallford, operated the Return to Nature Funeral Home in Colorado Springs.

Hallford is already serving a 20-year federal prison sentence on fraud charges alongside his wife, Carie Hallford.

During Friday’s court proceedings, family members of the victims urged the judge to impose the maximum 50-year sentence.

“I’m a daughter whose mother was treated like yesterday’s trash and dumped in a site left to rot with hundreds of others,” Kelly Mackeen told the court, as quoted by the BBC. “I’m heartbroken, and I ask God every day for grace,” she added.

According to reports, the victims included children and foetuses.

Judge Eric Bentley, as quoted by the BBC, said: “It is my personal belief that every one of us, every human being, is basically good at the core. But we live in a world that tests that belief every day, and Mr Hallford, your crimes are testing that belief.”

Ahead of the sentencing, Hallford apologised for his actions. “I had so many chances to put a stop to everything and walk away, but I did not,” he said. “My mistakes will echo for a generation. Everything I did was wrong.”

Carie Hallford is scheduled to be sentenced on April 24.