Victims in border bridge explosion identified as western NY couple

NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. – The two people killed when their luxury car crashed into a border checkpoint in Niagara Falls and exploded in a fiery wreck were identified Friday as a western New York husband and wife whose family owns a lumber business and several hardware stores in the Buffalo area.

The investigation into what caused the 2022 Bentley Flying Spur to race through an intersection, hit a low median and become airborne Wednesday continued, with investigators looking at whether medical or mechanical issues may have contributed, Niagara Falls Police Chief John Faso told local media.

The car slammed into a row of security booths at the Rainbow Bridge and burst into flames.

Police identified the couple as Kurt P. Villani and Monica Villani, both 53, of Grand Island, a suburb on the Niagara River between Buffalo and Niagara Falls.

Online business records and the company website indicate the victims’ family owns Gui’s Lumber and seven Ace Hardware locations in western New York, his family operating the business since the mid-1980s.

“We would like to extend our sincere gratitude to all that extended prayers, condolences and well wishes,” the families and the lumber company said in a joint statement released by the Erie County Sheriff’s Office on Friday. “At this point, we are requesting privacy so we may begin the process of healing.”

The wreck prompted widespread concern on both sides of the border, as video and images of what appeared to be the aftermath of an explosion began to circulate online and officials closed the bridge and three other nearby crossings. Authorities investigated for several hours before the FBI’s Buffalo office said it found no signs of a terror attack and turned the case over to local police as a traffic investigation.

“We would like to extend our sincere gratitude to all that extended prayers, condolences and well wishes. At this point, we are requesting privacy so we may begin the process of healing.”

The president of the Grand Island Chamber of Commerce said Friday that the couple’s support for their community was well known.

“They gave from their heart, so they didn’t make a big deal about it,” Eric Fiebelkorn said.

Mike Billoni was with Niagara Frontier Publications in 2014 when he photographed Kurt P. Villani and his son, Kurt Jr., as they dropped off a load of turkeys for a local food drive.

The Villanis were carrying on an annual tradition of donating 250 turkeys begun six years earlier by the older Villani’s parents, Kurt and Gail Villani, Billoni wrote in a news story at the time.

“It was such a wonderful gesture to see the philanthropy of the father passed on to the son, who then passed it down to his son,” Billoni recalled Friday. It was unclear whether the tradition continued.

The eldest Villani died last year, leaving a void in the close-knit business community that has now grown with the loss of the son, Fiebelkorn said.

The Niagara Falls Police Department has said the crash investigation will take time given the complexity.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has described it as “surreal” and said the vehicle was “basically incinerated” with nothing left but the engine and a scattering of charred debris.

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The owners of a defunct Colorado funeral home where 190 sets of decomposing human remains were found have been returned to the state to face hundreds of felony charges.

Carie Hallford appeared in District Court in Colorado Springs via video on Wednesday. District Judge Samorreyan Burney maintained her bail at $2 million cash during the advisement hearing, KRDO-TV reported. Jon Hallford’s advisement hearing was Friday and his bail also remained at $2 million.

Carie Hallford’s public defender had asked for her bail to be reduced to $50,000, citing her lack of a criminal record, but Burney noted she faced more than 250 felony charges. Both Hallfords face 190 counts of abuse of a corpse, over 50 counts of forgery, five counts of theft and four counts of money laundering, federal court records said.

Neither entered a plea. Their next court appearances are set for Dec. 5.

Court records say the Hallfords are both being represented by the public defender’s office, which does not comment on cases to the media.

The case began in early October when the report of an “abhorrent smell” led to the discovery of the bodies at a Return to Nature Funeral Home location in Penrose – about 34 miles southwest of Colorado Springs.

After the bodies were removed, officials said there were 190 sets of remains, with some having been there as long as four years. The coroner’s office used fingerprints and medical records to try to identify the bodies, and would use DNA if necessary, officials said.

Family members had been falsely told their loved ones had been cremated and had received materials that were not their ashes, court records said.

The couple was arrested on Nov. 8 at the home of Jon Hallford’s father in Oklahoma, according to a federal arrest warrant alleging they fled the state to avoid prosecution. The federal charge was dropped after their arrests.

Carie Hallford was booked into the El Paso County Jail in Colorado Springs on Tuesday and Jon Hallford was returned to Colorado on Wednesday.